


A Simple Memory

by TreacherousAssassin (RogueVigilante)



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Depression, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2019-09-02 10:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16785442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueVigilante/pseuds/TreacherousAssassin
Summary: When Jack and Pitch confronted each other in the snow, Jack didn't even realize that he dropped the memories. He no-longer thought that they were important.Only without those memories, Jack never discovered who he was, never fixed his staff, never escaped the ice and never saved the guardians. Pitch won. Children stopped believing, the remaining spirits became invisible and the Guardians disappeared.That was 8 years ago





	1. The Message

**Author's Note:**

> So this is what happens when you babysit your neighbor. You watch a simple movie and get irrationally mad at the ending and mentally rewrite the whole thing.

Two sets of feet found themselves landing in the freshly fallen snow, thick black boots contrasting the surrounding. Moments later, a third set of paws were lightly placed in front of them. This third figure emitted a series of annoyed squeaks at the sudden cold, jumping back onto the boots of the figure who had just placed him on the ground. Smiling, the figure picks up the unfortunate groundhog, placing him on the top of his hat.

Emitting a happier, but still disgruntled squeak from his new position, the groundhog goes glances out towards the snow. The empty scenery displays outlines of distant snow peaks within the lightly falling snow. However, the snow fall blocks any of their further vision as it fades into white. The landscape was also completely deserted.

It wouldn't have matted anyway. They were all Spirits, no longer visible to the children of the world. 8 years ago, Pitch Black had returned and destroyed the Guardians, so children stopped believing in magic and fairy tales. Stopped believing in groundhogs who predicted the weather, in leprechauns, in pixies, in witches and in every other type of Spirit who had walked the earth. Many had not taken the transition into invisibility well.

However, if there was any casual observers who could still see Spirits, the four figures would be a strange sight. To the left stood a small leprechaun dressing in bright greens and golds, a smile just holding onto his face and a groundhog perched on his top hat. Hovering next to them is a smaller blonde girl in a pink dress, dragonfly wings fluttering quickly as she darts back and forth against the cold. Just behind her, a tall figure with dark curly hair and purple robes accented with orange finishes folding away her broomstick. She turns to survey the white landscape with her companions.

"I still don't see why Manny sent us here," asks the leprechaun, huddling into himself. "There's nothing here."

The groundhog squeaks a response, a pale wisp of white breath mingling with that of his stool.

"I know we only just arrived, but we have no clue what we're looking for and where that might be."

"Well whatever it is," the pixie mutters more to herself than anyone else. "We need to find it quick. My wings are freezing off just hovering here." She flutters back and forth in indignation, as if trying to chase away the cold weather. She glances back briefly to her companions, arms raised in question and tongue out. The leprechaun sighs while the witch just smiles sadly.

With that, the pixie darts off into the snow, leaving the others to follow behind a moment later.

The gentle crunching of the snow filled the momentary silence as the two figures started walking. As they walked, the leprechaun would bring out a small comment of complaint at the weather, only to be met with an agreeing sound from the groundhog. For the most part, the witch stayed quiet, instead allowing her to be deep in thought. Their landing destination quickly disappeared behind them as they walked, covered by the snow as they followed the darting figure of their small pink friend. Occasionally, she would become lost in the snow, only to reappear a few minutes later with a hopeful smile. The three others knew she was excited about what they were sent to find, having spent the entire way there guessing.

But as the walk continues without a destination in sight, even that hopeful smile began to fade at the edges.

They did not know how long they had been walking in the snow. It was long enough for the groundhog to curl around the leprechaun's neck as if they were a scarf. Long enough for the witch to switch into a werewolf form to make the constant walking on the snow easier. She had allowed the leprechaun a brief ride. It was long enough for the pixie was darting in every direction, hoping to spot something they may miss in the snow. Still the four kept on. But even as the snowfall lightened, none of them were closer to understanding that Man In The Moon's message

If you wish to succeed, there is something you need in the ice of Antarctica.

As the leaders, they had all received the message and despite the looming attack, all four of them had decided to go. If this was important enough for Manny to tell all of them, then there would be something there they needed to find. But as time wore on, small doubts started creeping into each of their minds. 'What if they've missed it? What if we're in the wrong place.'

Watching the pixie dart over another small snowy hill, the leprechaun finds himself opening his mouth to voice his concerns before a voice fills the air.

"Oh my goodness, what is that?"

Running, the leprechaun and the werewolf bound across the snow towards their companion. Cresting the top of the hill, the three figures find themselves staring at a large, black piece of jagged ice, rising from the snow to tower above them. Beside it, the pixie flies around it in fascinated by the strange structure. Approaching slowly, the leprechaun places the staring groundhog on the ground before reaching up to touch it. The structure is cool beneath his touch. Feeling a slight breeze next to him, he smiles at the pixie next to him.

"I guess this is it then," she comments, eyes still fixed on the structure.

"I guess you found it Pix."

"You can all start bowing now." She gives a little curtsy to demonstrate her point before flying up to one of the peaks. "What do you suppose it is Lucky?"

"No idea. Groundhog?"

Groundhog looks closely at the ice in front of him, noticing the black shine. Recognizing it, he makes a series of small noises. Lucky and Pix stare at him, recognizing the familiar magic in the structure. For a moment, the three of them are silent. Eventually, Pix breaks the silence.

"Could he have a hidey hole this far away?"

"I doubt it. It's nowhere near anything. I don't even understand why this is here."

Groundhog squeaks his responds. Pix leans up to place her ear on the structure before deciding against it.

"Well if I wanted to hide something out of the way, this would be the place to do it. No one would ever find it here." She gives a small twirl. "What if it's some really powerful weapon in this?"

"Something that could defeat Pitch?"

"Exactly."

"What do you think Salem?"

Salem doesn't move from her position. Back in her witch form, her hand is placed against the icy structure as she examines it carefully, oblivious to the current conversation. The three other glance sideways at each other and wait for a response. None comes. After what seems like minutes, but in reality was little more than a few seconds, they turn back to continue their conversation when Salem mutters under her breath.

"Jack Frost."

All hearing this, the three figures turn and stare at Salem in disbelief. Sensing their questions, she continues with her eyes still examining the structure.

"Jack Frost made this. I recognize his power."

"But Jack Frost is dead. He joined the Guardians just before Pitch destroyed them all." Lucky states, voicing the question they were all thinking. Without even realizing it, Pix begins her larger sweeping flights that she was doing earlier while they were trudging through the snow. 

Salem nods a response, ignoring Pix. "I don't quite understand it yet, but he helped make this. If I had to guess, Pitch and Jack must had had a fight here."

Groundhog responds with a doubtful squeak,

"I know," Salem sighs. "There is not reason why they would fight here of all places. By all accounts the Guardians never came here." She pauses to survey the scene, a realization dawning. "Unless Jack was never a Guardian."

The others stare at her, but she continues without letting them respond, voice rising. "If he was never a Guardian, then he wouldn't have been killed with the others. Pitch might have just trapped him here instead."

"Salem, we all know Jack Frost. What could trap him?"

Her response is interrupted by Pix, hovering by a small ice wall the the side of them, staring into it. 

"Looks like he just fell down a hole. Hey Jack!"


	2. Jack Frost

Baby Tooth knew that today would be no different. Jack Frost sat curled up against the side of the wall as he had done for weeks past, unmoving and lost in thought. She knew that he continually blamed himself for the death of the Guardians. That he believed that everything that happened was his fault. During the first two years, she tried to convince him otherwise, tried to help break his fall into where his mind was going. She'd had no success, his broken staff now resting on a far wall.

Instead Jack had good days, days when the memories seemed to bury themselves. On the icy walls around them were hundreds of small carvings they had done together, a small set of snowmen slowly were falling over next to a makeshift snowball fort. Periodically, Jack would become similar, if not more reserved, to his older personality. Laughing and making jokes and teaching Baby Tooth how to throw a snowball. Baby Tooth wasn't very good at snowball fights, but it often helped Jack forget so she continued with happiness. But every time, something would eventually cause Jack to remember and he would soon fall silent, sitting back down against the wall and burying his head in his arms. Once that happened, Baby Tooth knew that the only way was to wait. She'd tried everything else. 

Snuggling down into Jack's hood, Baby Tooth closed her eyes, feeling the permanent frost on the feathers. After 8 years, she hardly noticed anymore. Eyes closed, her mind drifted back to memories of a few weeks ago, memories of a happier time. She knew she would dwell on these for at least another week, perhaps even planning what to add to her small, but ever growing snowman. Memories returning, Baby Tooth settled down for a quiet next few days.

"Looks like he just fell down a hole. Hey Jack!"

The sound startled Baby Tooth from her thoughts, the feminine accented voice tumbling into the icy prison. Looking up in surprise, she notices a small pink figure flying at rapid speed towards them. Jack looks up in shock at the pixie flies in a spiral towards the both of them. Hovering in front of them, she begins speaking without any pause for response.

"Oh my goodness. Jack Frost. We found you. I mean we all thought you were dead," her voice rattles away in a rapid fire speech, excitements barley contained. "And then Manny goes and tells us that there's something in the ice and so we all went and we found you. Right here. Alive."

Darting back and forth in excitement, the pixie fails to notice Jack open his mouth to speak. Instead she continues on.

"And we found you here, which is perfect because you fought Pitch before. We're about to fight him again. You've been trapped away here so you wouldn't know but everything went to shit. All the Spirits became invisible to humanity, which sucks by the way. But we're gonna fight back. I'm helping to lead the rebellion. And with your help we will win."

She continued her rabble as Baby Tooth tuned out. Instead she focused on Jack, sensing his shoulders falling. She knew that despite the pixie's best intentions, this small conversation wound send Jack into another spiral. Jumping out of the hood, she nuzzles into his neck in an effort of distraction. She feels his head lean into him as he turns to face the rapidly talking pixie, sad smile crossing his face. 

Eventually she stops talking for a moment, giving Jack a moment to speak.

"Hello Pix." Baby Tooth can hear the failing in his voice, his internal demons forcing his thoughts and beliefs. There is a sadness that even Pix can detect. 

Hearing this, Baby Tooth watches as Pix quickly looks back and forth, noticing the staff in the corner. Quickly darting over to it, she watches as Pix tries to grab one part of the staff and bring it over. Instead, the end drags in the snow as she struggles back across the crevasse. Unfazed and misreading the situation, Pix resumes her talking.

"Oh, is that why your down here. Did Pitch break your staff? That's where your magic comes from right. Well no matter, I'm sure that one of the other Spirits can fix it for you. That should be fine..."

"Pix," Jacks hopeless voice interrupts her conversation. "I'm not coming with you."

Baby Tooth feels Jack curl up against the wall, as if trying to make himself smaller. Dropping the staff end, Pix flies up to Jack's face. 

"I know Pitch beat you once. But it's all of us this time and I know we're not the Guardians but we're going to beat him. You can't let that defeat stop you. We need you."

Baby Tooth knew that was the wrong thing to say. Inwardly groaning, she waits for Jack's head to fall into his knees in an effort to ignore the pixie. Instead, she notices a shift in the air, looking at it, Baby Tooth sees a small ghostly boy hovering over the snow. Jack does not respond to this new figure, leading Baby Tooth to believe that he had closed his eyes. Pix however, does notice the newcomer.

The ghost boy floats over towards them, form shimmering as he transforms into a tall dark skinned witch. Pix darts over to her, hovering at her shoulder height.

"Hey Salem, look who I found. He's a bit upset that Pitch beat him but you can talk to him right? You can convince him to leave?"

Salem takes a minute before responding.

"Pix, why don't you go up to the others?" Pix huffs for a small moment but Salem continues with a sideways glance towards Jack. "Why don't you let me talk to him?"

Baby Tooth watches the pixie fly back up towards the white crack of sky above before talking a moment to study Salem, fear creeping into her mind as she dreads what this new figure could say. Baby Tooth knows Jack's mind wouldn't let him go. He blamed himself for the death of the Guardians and saw this as his punishment. She could guess that he though that if he went, he would be the reason this new rebellion failed. However, instead of talking, Salem slowly approached the wall and kneels down facing Jack. She gives a small but fake smile as she looks at the curled figure in front of her.

"Hey Jack."


	3. The Truth

"Hey Salem"

Jack's face looks up at her, blue eyes devoid of their previous sparkle. Traces of snow covered his hair and jacket as he sat there, knees to his chest, looking at her. Salem notices a sorrowful acceptance hidden in his expression as he talks to her, voice flat.

"You've changed"

For an instant, confusion hits Salem. Then she remembers that the last time she had a run in with Jack, she was the shape-shifting face or Halloween. A quieter Spirit of kindness and friendship with a rebellious streak. Of communities coming together and ghost stories told under pillow forts. Now she was a leader of the rebellion in a time when children didn't believe. In a way, it was a community coming together, old grudges forgotten. But she didn't see the joy in it as she used to.

Looking at Jack now though, she realises her memory of him was also different. Gone was the troublemaker with a snowball in one hand and laughter on his lips. The boy who ran carefree with the wind. This new Frost was none of that.

"So have you," replies Salem. 

She opens her mouth to continue, but finds no words to say. What does she say to this new Jack who sat there like a stranger trying to be as small as possible. Manny wouldn't have sent them if he didn't think they needed him. Or was it Manny was just trying to help stop what Jack had become? Salem wasn't sure anymore. 

Instead she sits down in the snow opposite Jack, legs crossed.

"Do you remember Halloween of 96'?" She says, her own words tumbling out of her mouth and surprising her. Jack looks at her with a slight nod but says nothing. 

"It was that little street whose name I can't remember and everyone was out," she continues. "Children in the street and adults chatting on the sidewalk. It was perfect. Then you came along. You raced past, bringing an icy wind with you and freezing people off the street. I was so mad at you. 

"But when I went up to yell at you, you just pointed and smiled. And behind me, there was laughter. The children were sliding up and down the street, judging their costumes on their slipperiness. That's when I realised that that sound, that laughter, was what I was missing. You brought that to everyone.

"What happened to you, Jack? What happened to that laughing troublemaker Spirit who brought a little bit of fun into things?"

It takes a while for Jack to respond, as he was contemplating his words. Luckily, her three companions did not join her, instead staying out of the crevasse. Salem assumes Pix filled them in on what she saw. Eventually thought, Jack spoke.

"It's like you said, I'm a troublemaker. I just mess things up."

The answer surprises her. Everyone knew Jack was a troublemaker yet that never seemed to stop him. Salem had guessed he was down here because he lost to Pitch, but his tone held something else. Something about the way he said that made her feel that these words cut deeper than they used to.

"What did Pitch do to you?" The Jack Frost she knew wouldn't be thinking like this, leading her to believe that his current mood had something to do with Pitch. If she could snap him out of it, she would be able to help him.

"Pitch didn't do anything Salem. I did. The Guardians trusted me and I destroyed them." His voice retained that same hopeless monotone that it had done previously. Shock hits Salem at these words. Jack destroyed the Guardians? There must be some mistake.

"Jack..."

"And don't say anything against that, Salem. You weren't there," he interupts, his voice rising briefly. As if realising his sudden display of emotions, he silences for an instant and takes a breath. Guessing that he wasn't finished, Salem says nothing, instead waiting for him. It doesn't take long for him to continue, his voice changing to a reminiscent monotone of a painful memory.

"We knew we needed Easter to give us more time and I was the only one who could beat Pitch's nightmare," he says, eyes on the snow in front of him. "They put me in charge of protecting the eggs. Only a small girl had wandered into the Warren. I offered to take her home, which I did. 

"Only afterwards, I heard a voice calling my name so I left them undefended and went exploring. I knew how important I was and I left them. I ended up in Pitch's lair and while I was there, he destroyed all the eggs. They trusted me and Pitch won. And that's my fault."

Salem didn't know what to say. She remembered that the loss of Easter 8 years ago was the final keystone in the defeat of the Guardians. But from what it sounded like, Jack had just made a simple mistake and fallen into a trap. It might have been a mistake that destroyed everything, but all the Spirits knew Jack and something that peeked his curious side would be an easy way to trick him. 

Yet at the same time she could see that Jack didn't see it that way. She knew from his pose and desire to be left alone that he blames himself for everything. That this blame destroyed him. 

But at the same time, Salem doesn't know how to respond. She knew many of the other Spirits would blame him for his actions and the loss of the Guardians. Instead she opens her mouth, hoping words would form.

"Jack..."

"And don't me that it's not my fault," he interupts again, not caring for her response. "That's not what the Guardians said.That's not what they said." The last line he repeats in a smaller and smaller voice, staring into the snow.

Salem knows that there is nothing she can do. From the tales she heard from before, it seemed as though Jack was close to the Guardians.

"You think the same thing is going to happen again?" She says instead.

Jack looks in the snow and doesn't respond. At that moment Salem knows that nothing she says can help Jack. Maybe if they had found him earlier, they might have stood a chance. But now it was like standing on the edge of a cliff looking down at all the damage his mind had done to him and there was nothing she could do to fix it. Instead she slowly stands, taking a breath before talking.

"Alright Jack, I won't ask you to come as I can see you're not going to come "

A small nod of acceptance is all the response she gets. She finds herself hating who he's become, and her inability to do anything about it. However as she turns to leave, a thought flashes into her head. Turning back, words on her lips, when Jack talks again.

"Can I ask you a favour?"

"Only if I can ask one in return?" She smiles sadly back. Jack reaches a hand into his hood, seeming to grab something. He mutters under his breath as he does so, words Salem can't quite catch. As he pulls back his hand and extends it towards her, Salem sees that it is open. It is also empty.

"Can you look after her?"

"Jack, your hand is empty," Salem responds in confusion.

"Wait, you can't see her?"

"No. I can't. What are you talking about?"

As she says this, thoughts begin swirling in her head. Has Jack Frost lost in down here? She wasn't so sure about that.

"A Baby Tooth. She got trapped here with me."

Salem stares at the empty hand in shock. There was a Baby Tooth in his hand. They all disappeared when Tooth did. Salem doesn't know if Jack can actually see one or if his mind gave him a friend and she doesn't want to. She wants to believe that they still exist, but the last 8 years questions her. From his expression though, he seems to care for her and Salem hopes that this idea or Baby Tooth could one day help Jack. It takes a moment for Salem to respond.

"I wish I could see her. I'm sorry Jack." A thought hits her, an idea that a few of the Spirits had had. "What I don't understand is why you can see her? All the Guardian Spirits and their helpers disappeared when Pitch won. I'm guessing without their power to keep them, they faded away. Baby Tooth must really care for you."

Jack apologizes to his hand and returns it too his shoulder. He shakes his head and looks at Salem expectantly. The request she had flying back into her mind. 

"Anyway, that favor. Jack, before I go, can you smile for me?"

A flash of surprise crosses his face. Salem continues quickly before he has a chance to respond.

"It's just that I remember you so differently from who you are now. I guess I want to remember you as the Spirit you were."

There is a look of both understanding and confusion in his face. He understands the request but is not sure why Salem is asking that of him. There is a tension in the air like an oncoming snowfall, with both Jack and Salem waiting to see who would act first. Surprisingly, Jack holds Salem's gaze.

Salem finds herself wanting to talk to Jack. It was like his confession earlier had given way to truth. Without meaning to, she found herself talking, voicing the thoughts she had had since they had started the rebellion.

"Pix thinks we are going to win. Lucky is hopeful but knows that there is a chance we could lose. Groundhog isn't so sure. Me, I know this is a suicide run. The Guardians at the height of their power couldn't beat him, so what chance do we have? We're just a handful of Spirits with minimal power. But, I'm still going to fight"

It's not that she wants to inspire him. She just wants Jack to understand how important this goodbye is to her. This Jack, battling with thoughts in his own mind is not how she wants to say farewell. Looking at Jack, he doesn't smile, but rather looks at her with an unspoken question. Why?

"I guess I would rather die thinking I made a difference than fade away knowing I didn't."

There is a silence that seems like an eternity between them as the look at each other before Jackes a small nod of understanding to that before dropping his head. Sensing the imposing heaviness in the air, she takes a breath and talks before Jack can say anything.

"So that smile?"

Instead of smiling, Jack stands up and looks at her, an expression of acceptance and hope clear across his face, despite his lack of a smile. For a moment, confusion and disappointment fills Salem. She was hoping this would have ended differently.

"I don't feel like smiling right now," Jack says, walking towards the side of the cave where his broken staff lies. Picking up the pieces slowly, he examines them for a moment before placing them both in his pocket. Turning back towards Salem, he gives a small, and clearly fake, smile. "So I guess I'm going to have to come with you. I might need a lift though."


	4. Waiting

Lucky sits with Groundhog near the crevasse. Beside them, Pix hovers with nervous excitement, waiting for Salem to return with Jack in tow. She'd made her exclamation before darting into the crack in the ice, Salem shifting to follow her down. Looking form above, Lucky and Groundhog could barely see the hints of a white haired boy curled up against the ice wall. Moments later, Pix had returned with news.

She'd told Lucky and Groundhog that Jack was a bit upset that Pitch had beat him, but Salem was going to talk some sense into him. Lucky didn't know if that was all or if Pix had misread a situation. She was a good friend and a little bundle of hope, but had a tendency dismiss negative emotions too easily. But she did say Jack's staff was broken, which explains why he never left the ice.

Still, having been beaten by Pitch 8 years ago and trapped in the ice, powers gone, would have made Lucky restless. Given him a drive to fight, to come back and try again. According it Pix, Jack has none of those beliefs. It was almost as if he wanted to remain in exile. Lucky didn't understand it. Then again, Lucky had never been in that situation before. All he had done was lead a rebellion.

Beside him, Groundhog gives a few questioning squeaks.

Lucky nods in agreement. It would be weird seeing Jack Frost again, a Spirit everyone thought was dead. A Spirit that before this all happened, everyone preferred to leave alone, for fear of his troublemaking. A Spirit who fought Pitch with the Guardians before the world went dark. 

Pix flutters in front of Lucky, still talking. Both Lucky and Groundhog knew how to tune her out when she got in one of these nervous but chatty moods. Everybody liked Pix, but Salem was one of the few Spirits who listens when her mouth goes faster than her mind. Still, the familiar sound was a comfort to both the figures freezing in the snow. 

Currently, she seemed to be running through the battle plan the four of them had come up with and how Jack could fit into it. It was like she is planning how the world was going to work just by speaking it. Despite everything, Lucky found himself trying to listen to it.

Still, the cold and the sounds couldn't distract Lucky from his own panicked excitement. Jack Frost was alive. Trapped in the ice but still alive. He didn't know how to he should be thinking about this, despite the million questions he had. All he knew was that when Jack came out of the ice, he could ask him.

Beside him, Groundhog squeaks something. Lost in his thoughts, Lucky misses it although Pix does seem to hear him.

"Maybe Jack wants to hear everything that's been happening," she responds.

"Couldn't they talk above the ice?" Lucky says, guessing what Groundhog had said.

"Well he's definitely coming," she smiles. "What he is." She adds quickly noticing at the look from Groundhog. 

A thought creeps into Lucky. What if Jack didn't want to come? Salem had been down there a considerable time and had not emerged with Jack in tow. What would they do if Jack had just given up? It would be a huge blow to the moral of the four of them, and they would have to hide it from the rest of the Spirits. Manny wouldn't send them on a hopeless quest. Would he?

"All we can do is wait for Salem. We can't give up just yet."

As Lucky says that, a purple witch's hat pokes its way above the edge of the crevasse. Moments later, Salem emerges, a white haired boy behind him.

The three companions share a smile of joyus excitement. He is alive. Despite everything, Lucky just stands there as he dismounts and looks at the the three of them, a small smile on his lips.

Nobody says anything for a moment.

"Hey guys."

Jack breaks the silence with a simple wave. Standing there, he almost looks the same. Same blue jumper and tangle of white hair. Although as he speaks, there is something in his voice that Lucky cannot recognise. Something that seems off.

As Lucky looks closer, he begins to notice subtle differences. The troublemaker smile was the same, but the spark that accompanied it behind the eyes was gone. His posture was slightly more crouched, like he was trying to hide. Lucky also notices the ends of the broken staff sticking out of his pocket.

Lucky finds himself surprised at this subtly new Jack. Then again, they've all changed greatly in the last 8 year. Before Pitch, Lucky was happy to spend his days in Ireland, highlighting his few myths to people who believed. Now he was leading a rebellion to try and bring that all back. He'd seen the would Pitch had created and he couldn't imagine what he looked like before it.

Salem, Pix, Groundhog and all the other Spirits had changed, so why was Lucky surprised?

Lucky runs up and gives Jack a hug. For a moment, Jack steps back in surprise. In the silence it seemed like the right thing to do, despite not knowing him too well before Pitch. 

"You're alive," Lucky finds himself saying. "Bless the Spirits, you're alive."

He lets go, to find Pix and Groundhog have approached him to huddle around Jack. For an instant, Lucky sees Salem and Jack share a look. Then Jack is looking down at the two of them, Pix near his shoulder, smile back on his face.

Lucky opens his mouth to speak again, asking the questions he wants to, only to for Salem to interrupt him. 

"You might like the cold Jack, but most of us don't," she smiles at them all, bringing out her broom. "So let's fly back to base and we'll catch up on the way back."


	5. Plans and Mudfights

Salem guides the broomstick towards what's left of the Daintree Rainforest, the rendezvous point for the four of them with a number of the Spirits. Behind her, Jack sits, staring at the rapidly moving landscape. He hadn't talked mush during the flight, only to tell Lucky, Groundhog and Pix that Pitch broke his staff and trapped him. He said nothing else.

Behind Jack, Lucky holds onto Groundhog, both of them watching the scenery fly by and counting the time to their return. Both of them were nervous and it wasn't just that they had Jack with them. 

Before they all left, the plan to take down Pitch was about to be put into action. Now that they were back, all it would need would be a slight modification on the plan and an explanation to Jack and they would be ready to go. 

Salem didn't want to tell them it was a hopeless long shot, so she left them them with their nervousness instead of the resigned serenity she felt. She had no idea what Jack thought of the whole suicide run deal, yet he had still come. She had her suspicions about why he really came, and they scared her. She hopes she is wrong.

A quick exclamation comes from her shoulder where Pix stands, pointing at a small clearing. The meeting point.

"I'm going to tell the others," she squeals before jumping off and flying high speed towards the small figures Salem can now spot.

"She's a bit eager," says Jack, Salem feeling him leaning over to look at the small figures.

"I can tell," relpys Lucky.

A squeak comes from the small furry figure in his hands.

"You're right there Groundhog," Lucky responds as Salem flies closer. 

All of them can see the collection of Spirits standing around to watch them land. The long ears of the Bunyip covering a small collection of gnomes. Deers of the Forest stood with sprites on their antlers and Mother Nature at their feet. Dragons and Clouds helped keep Merfolk happy while small fiery spirits smiled at them joyfully. Even more variety stood watching the descending broom. There at least 50 Spirits waiting for them, although there was most likely more.

Even before they landed, the swarm of Spirits crowded in front and around their landing point. Pix was in front, hovering overhead with an imp by her side. All of them were talking in rapid voices, each sound mingling with each other. Salem could only pick up a few of the voices in the hubbub.

"Hey guys."

"You're back."

"Is it true?"

"Did you find Frost?"

"Is he really alive?"

Landing gently, Salem waits for her passengers to stand up and get off. Jack does first, to the sudden silence of the crowd.

"Hey," he says, hand raised in a small wave. Glancing back at him, Salem sees a smile on his face. However, given his earlier reaction in the cave, she guesses it's fake. The other Spirits don't notice.

Behind him, Lucky and Groundhog dismount, stepping back quickly with another wave. For a moment Salem in confused by this strange action. Then the mob of Spirits swarms them and Salem is stuck in the middle near Jack. From the safety of the edge, Lucky gives a small wave and bow to Salem, who responds with an eye roll.

The collection of Spirits trapping Salem begin to talk again in rapid questions directed towards Jack. With them all talking, Salem catches fragments of questions but nothing substantial. Glancing towards Jack, he seems extremely uncomfortable.

Hands raised at the elbows and posture tense, he talks out over the crowd.

"Whoah. I can hardly hear myself think."

His statement does little to silence many of the Spirits. There's a small lull in the noise before many of the Spirits use the silence to voice their question. All this results in is the same noisy babble. Salem sees Jack say something that's lost in the noise. He raises his voice and tries again.

"So yeah, I'm back."

The crowd mostly silences. Salem watches as Jack opens his mouth to say something before an expression flashes across his face. She can't quite pick it up, but it seems almost sorrowful. Then the expression is gone.

"Pitch basically broke my staff and trapped me in the ice," Jack says out to the crowd, smile back on his face. This comment seems to silence the remaining Spirits. There is a confusion in the air about what that means for Jack. Along with a question both Jack and Salem can understand perfectly.

"I don't think it can be fixed," Jack continues. "But that's not going to stop me from hitting him instead."

"Wait, you've lost you're powers?" The sound comes from a gnome in the middle of the group, voicing the question that many of the Spirits were thinking. There was a tone in the air. They had all heard how Jack Frost's powers could stop Pitch, but without them, what could Jack do? A heavy concern fills the silence.

"Yeah," Jack responds, a hint of mischief in his voice, cutting through the tension forming in the air. 

He quickly bobs down for a split second as he says that, grabbing something off the ground. Most of the Spirits knew Jack Frost as a troublemaker, but only Salem and a few of the Spirits took a short step back. Unfortunately they were blocked by the rest of the crowd. Before anyone can say anything though, Jack speaks again with a smile on his face.

"But that doesn't mean I can't throw a snowball."

Salem watches as a ball of mud and dirt hits the imp flying next to Pix. A second dirt ball hits a young Water Dragon. For an instant, silence fills the area, before Pix falls over in the air in raucous laughter. A few of the other Spirits crack a small smile.

The imp Jack had hit flies back up with a handful of retaliation dirt. Salem didn't know if Jack noticed the imp, but as threw the dirt, he ducks to grab another ball of the ground. Sailing over his head, the dirt slams into an Imaginary Friend. They look at the imp and smile, leaning down to pick up some mud and dirt.

Noticing that a mud fight was about to start, Salem closes her eyes and feels her body ripple as they transform into a ghostly boy. He quickly squeezes his way over to Lucky and Groundhog, phasing through the other Spirits when necessary. Behind him, he can hear the squeals beginning to rise up as mud begins to be thrown. 

As he reaches the two figures he transforms back and turns around to observe the chaos. The tension that was in the air defuses into laughter as dirt is thrown. Ducking and weaving Spirits moved in and out of her vision, covered in varying degrees of mud. She spots Jack in the middle, almost clean apart from some dirt in his hair, dodging the onslaught of attacks. Pix flies above the crowd with a few of the other flying Spirits, dropping mud on unsuspecting Spirits.

Still watching the fight, Salem notices as Lucky runs past her to join the fray. A smile creeps onto her face, bringing back memories of a simpler time.

Beside her, Groundhog gives a few squeaks.

"Let them have their fun Groundhog. They deserve a break before this all kicks off," she replies.

Two mud balls quickly fly in their direction. Watching the fight, Salem easily dodges. She turns to find that Groundhog was not so lucky. Covered in dirt and squeaking indignatly, he turns to find the culprit. Lucky smiles at him and waves. Salem smiles as Groundhog scoots towards him, now squeaking in revenge.

Salem smiles as she watches the dirt fly. Suddenly she notices that Jack has walked up beside her, smile on his face as he watches the chaos. Turning to look at Jack, she doesn't see the twinkle behind the eyes.

"You're not really smiling, are you?" She asks before turing back towards the other Spirits.

"No," he responds, voice flat.

"You're doing it for them."

"When I saw Pix and Lucky and Groundhog, when I saw this lot it made me realise that these Spirits still have some measure of hope. I guess I don't want to be the one to break it." 

Jack doesn't look at her as he says that, keeping his voice low and in that same monotone from the crevasse. The noise of the fight drowning out their conversation from others. Seeming to notice the discussion, the other Spirits don't try to pull Jack or her into the fight again.

"It's that feeling of finality in moments like this," she eventually responds. "It's like saying goodbye and wanting to have one more good memory."

They both stand there in silence for a few moments, watching the fun. However, the knowledge of what will come soon lies heavy between them, muffling the surrounding joy. Glancing at Jack, he seems to also feel it.

"Delaying that final goodbye," he mutters.

"Exactly."

Another few beats pass. Salem glances towards Jack to find that he has turned to look at her.

"You still think what you told me?" He asks.

Salem knows he is talking about her belief that the fight is impossible. Unfortunately she can't see any other solution to defeating Pitch apart from an attack. They had spent the last 6 years planning this, exhausted every option.

Pitch held the beliefs of the children, making him more powerful than before. Salem didn't want to voice it again, lest someone else hear it so he nods as her response. It was like Jack smiling to keep the other Spirits' hopes up. 

Jack glances back at the fight, briefly ducking to avoid a stray mudball. 

"At first I wondered why you lied to them. Why you didn't say anything," he says, suprising Salem with the lack of question in his voice. He bows his head. "Now I know." 

Salem doesn't know how to respond, the end of the conversation hanging in the air. Talking to Jack about her beliefs had cleared her mind of the guilt, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. 

Her mind was still turning it over when Jack spoke again.

"Salem. Thanks for not saying anything."

For an instant Salem was confused. Jack was grateful that Salem hadn't told them it was a suicide run? Why would he say that? Then she realises that he was talking to a different part of their conversation in the crevasse. Jack's belief that he killed the Guardians. 

Salem knew that that wound ran deeper than Jack wants to admit. She believes it wasn't entirely his fault but knew anything she said would fall of distrusting ears.

"That's your story to tell if you want to," she responds instead, knowing Jack would say nothing unless necessary. She guesses the other Spirits would have mixed reactions to that explaination, none of which would help Jack's mental struggle.

"I don't think I'll be telling it," he mutters more to himself than Salem. She guesses that Jack also realises that telling the other Spirits what he told her would not be helpful to them and to Jack. Better to keep his involvement a secret. There is a slight pause before he continues, glancing at Salem's feet.

"What I don't get is why you don't blame me? Everything here is my fault," he says, voice beginning to display some emotion. "I shouldn't have come." He adds quickly, still not looking up at Salem.

"But you did," Salem finds herself responding. She places a hand on Jack's shoulder, causing him to look at her. "For whatever reason and despite everything, you came. And this isn't a bad thing"

The last line she says gesturing at the dying chaos and laughter. Mud and dirt monsters collapse on the ground, wiping their visions clear to smile at their opponents. Salem could hear a few of the gnomes complaining about cleaning their clothing and couldn't help smiling.

She hadn't seen this sort of joy and fun among the Spirits for a long time. Jack had brought it back. Yet despite everything, Salem knew that Jack wasn't seeing the moment, but all the ones before it. The darkness he believes he caused.

Instead of responding, Jack just turns away to look at the empty trees, silent and thinking about something.

"Can I ask you another favour?" He says, turning back to look at Salem.

"Depends."

"I want to talk the Guardians."

Shock runs through Salem. Jack wants to talk to the Guardians? She didn't even know if that was possible. 

Despite the thoughts running through her head, Jack continues. "I don't know why but I think I need to."

"I get it."

Salem does understand why Jack wants to talk to the Guardians. It's about getting closure, saying goodbye to old friends and mistakes. Hopefully it would help Jack's mind, but Salem knows that hope is not something to wish by. However, there was still the question of how.

"Except how are you going to do that? They're gone," she asks.

"I thought about maybe going to their old homes. The Pole, The Warren and The Tooth Palace," Jack responds. "There might be some remnant there that I feel would be listening if there's anything left. If it evens listens to me."

As he says that, he glances to his shoulder where Salem guesses Baby Tooth sits. At that thought she remembers Jack's only companion. A lost Spirit only he can see. There was a theory that only the most hopeful believes, that the Guardians were just invisible to everything with their power gone.

They believe that the Guardians would save them if people could just remember. They had tried that and it was impossible. It wouldn't help the fight, but it might help Jack. Even if they we're there, the idea of being able to talk to them could help Jack's mental dive. Or destroy him. But Salem is willing to take the risk so she gives a smile as she looks at him.

"You'll have to direct me there and we won't have long, but I can fly you there. Pix and the others will need a few more days to finalize the plan and tell the other Spirits. We can meet at the rendezvous when we're done."

Jack smiles back, a hint of genuine shine on his eyes.

"So, when do we set off?"


	6. The Warren

Bunny sits curled in the small cave of an Egg Guard near the entrance of The Warren, thinking of the past. There isn't much else to think of. They lost, Easter was no longer celebrated and Bunny was tired.

His body aches with phantom pains, eyes continually heavy. In the cool shade, Bunny finds that he hasn't wanted to move in a long time. Even if he wanted to, Bunny didn't have enough power to leave The Warren and go out into the world. Not that there was any point to it.

There had been a time in the early days when some Spirits had come into The Warren looking for the Guardians. Bunny had dragged himself out of the shade, old and tired, to find that they didn't respond. They couldn't see him. He was invisible to both the human world and the Spirit world. 

Returning to his shade, he lay there, not wanting to move. Time pasted without meaning or thought as Bunny continued to lie there without movement. He very quickly gave up, not even caring to know how long it had been since they lost. The only indicator was the plants growing up around The Warren, giving it a beautiful abandoned look. That could be a remnant of time, or just plants filling up the spaces of power that Bunny had left behind.

The Egg Guards stood still and dormant, their power fading with Bunny's and now covered in vines and flowers. The Painted River still flows, dying the flowers in rainbow hues now that the eggs are gone. These flowers and vines weave through the grass like snakes to wind their way up trees. The Warren is silent and while its overgrown nature runs rampant, there is still an ehco of what it used to be.

Bunny means to explore, to drag is aching legs out of the shade and walk The Warren again. Except he doesn't feel like moving right now. Instead Bunny closes his eyes and let's his mind wander back to the Easter of '02, remembering better times.

In his thoughts, he feels a tug in his mind. A sign of someone entering The Warren. Without meaning to, his ears perk in the direction of the visitors. He hears the slight patter of feet landing on the grass and someone walking into his home. Bunny curls tighter and tried to ignore it. What's the point? They can't see him.

Despite trying to drag his mind back into a better past, the tingling in his mind becomes stronger with curiosity. Opening his eyes, Bunny can see a pair of bare feet walking through the grass towards. Slowly emerging, the light blinding him temporarily, Bunny blinks and looks up at a figure he never expected to see again.

Jack Frost.

Surprise and relief rushes through Bunny's mind. Jack Frost was still alive and fine as he hops over too him. Forgetting his invisibility, Bunny hops through his legs and feet before remembering why he hit nothing. Turning around, he looks back up at his friend with a small smile on his lips.

Before the war, Bunny would never have greeted Jack with a genuine smile on his face, seeing him as the reckless troublemaker who ruined that Easter years back. There was a time just after the Guardians had faded that Bunny would have wanted the worst on Jack Frost, blaming him for everything that happened to them. 

But time is its own healer and it didn't take Bunny long for him to realise that something must have happened that his own anger prevented him from seeing. He knew Jack Frost well enough to figure that Pitch did something to get him into his hideout. Most likely a trick. Bunny just wishes he hadn't been so harsh towards Jack on that Easter Sunday.

It may have been the end of the Guardians of Childhood, but Bunny knew that Jack would never do that willingly. He may have laughed at them, refused the offer to join them, but he still cared about the children. By bringing a little fun, as he tried to do, would have helped the children remember. He might have been the only way to stop Pitch after they disappeared, but Bunny guessed a while ago that that wasn't the case.

As Bunny looks up at Jack, he instantly notices that this Jack seems different from the one he remembers. The once straight back now curls forward slightly while the feet now drag themselves across the grass. The smile is gone, replaced by an expression Bunny can only describe as a resigned sorrow. 

Guilt washes through Bunny as he realises that the fight against Pitch hit Jack the hardest of all of them. He didn't know what Jack's been doing since Easter, but it appears to have changed him. Looking up at him with nostalgic sorrow, Bunny wonders what caused this change and if he was in part responsible.

Bunny guesses he is.

Suddenly, he notices the ends of Jack's now broken staff hanging out of his pockets and knows what it means. Jack Frost has lost his powers. He didn't even know if it was possible to repair, but seeing the staff makes him realise that that must have been Pitch's fault. Everyone knew Jack had some power stronger than Pitch and removing it was his best option. 

However, seeing the remains of the staff, Bunny guesses that Jack also might have been trapped somewhere, probably in Pitch's lair. It didn't make him feel any better or less guilty. If he hadn't been so harsh, they could have protected him.

Next to him, Jack slowly sits down onto the grass, knees up, distracting Bunny from his chain of thoughts. He removes the broken staff from his pocket as he looks out over the overgrown Warren. Bunny sits beside him.

"I don't even know if you're here," Jack starts talking to the air. " If you can even hear me."

Bunny wants to respond, to tell Jack that he is here and could hear him, but the words wouldn't come. Not that it would matter. He was invisible to Jack anyway. Instead he lets Jack continue, curiosity running through him about why Jack is here.

"You know I had the whole speech planned out on the flight over. I went over and over it in my head but now I'm here..." Jack pauses for a moment and looks down, breathing out a long breath. "It doesn't seem right."

Bunny sits beside Jack in silence, surprised to hear that Jack had tried to plan this speech, despite never planning anything else. What did Jack come here to say?

"I sorry."

There was a heavy sincerity to his voice, the weight of those two words filling the air around Jack. But before Bunny can respond, Jack continues, the words almost tumbling out to cover the mood hanging in the air.

"I know that you don't believe me when I say that. I know everything that happened is my fault and that I destroyed everything. I don't deserve your forgiveness or even your attention but I need to say this. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Jack's head is bowed into his knees as he says this. He takes a small breath before continuing.

"I know that there is a good chance you're here and invisible to the Spirit World. It's like Baby Tooth. I guess that's why talking to The Warren feels as if you're listening, even if you still hate me and you're not. And yeah, I deserve it Bunny. I deserve every bit of hate. You trusted me and I betrayed you and got you all killed and I'm sorry for that."

"I don't hate you Frost," Bunny finds himself responding, despite the knowledge that Jack can't hear him. "You made a mistake but this isn't just your fault."

He goes to place a paw on Jack's leg, only to have it pass through. Jack doesn't notice. Bunny opens his mouth to speak again, only to find that Jack isn't finished talking to The Warren and him.

"That was one of the things that I needed to say to you. I'm sorry, despite how fake that sounds coming from me, the guy who messes everything up. But that wasn't the only thing either. I also need to say goodbye.

"I won't trouble you with what happened to me. It was what I deserved. But the thing is that the other Spirits are getting ready to fight Pitch and I'm going to be joining them. Only..."

Bunny stares at Jack, mouth falling open. He didn't know what had happened to the other Spirits, so to hear that they were going to be fighting back fills him with some small measure of hope. Yet there was something in Jack's monotone that brings a small portion of dread into Bunny's mind.

As the dread grows, a though fills his mind. Jack has no powers. Without his powers, the worst that Jack could do is throw a snowball or swing the broken ends of his staff, neither of which would be very effective against an all powerful Pitch Black.

As the worry begins to set in, the small pause that Jack had left is filled with him talking again.

"Salem thinks none of us are going to survive because Pitch is too powerful and I agree with her. We can't beat him and we can't win. I'm still fighting though. I have to."

The dread that had been worming its way into Bunny suddenly fills his mind. He knew Salem, the spirit of Halloween, and that she wouldn't say this unless she believed it. He also knew that Salem was generally smart enough to be right. Along with the fact that Jack not only believes her but seems to accept it as truth worries him. Yet when he opens his mouth to respond, no words come out. What can Bunny say anyway?

His own words laying heavy in the air, Jack continues, unaware of the staring Bunny.

"Listen to me ramble on. What I'm saying is that you won't have to worry about me anymore. Afterall, it's unlikely that you'll ever see me again. So I guess this is goodbye."

After saying that, Jack stands back up and retrieves his broken staff from the grass. All Bunny can sit there, the implication of what Jack just told him silencing any response. He doesn't know how to respond. With a final stare out over The Warren, Jack does it for him.

"Goodbye Bunny."

With those words, Jack turns and leaves, leaving Bunny with the regret that he said nothing. All he can do is sit in the grass and stare at the space where Jack was, tears beginning to fall down his face.


	7. The Tooth Palace

Tooth watches the sunset from her crumbling Tooth Palace, the last rays of sunlight illuminating the few remaining ribbons of gold. The Tooth Palace was tied to her power, a power that came from the belief of children. Without that belief, age came to reclaim her home.

The once golden towers are now tarnished bronze, marks and scratches breaking through some of the more intricate lattice work. The shimmering hues of the spires have dulled and faded like paint falling of a wall. Some of the spires and towers have fallen down to the ground or onto other platforms, their supports lying empty on the rock.Wilderness has claimed the garden below. The artwork is gone and the pool lies still. 

Sitting on the edge of the tower that was once where she directed her Baby Teeth, Tooth can feel the decay of her home creeping through her body. Yet there is nothing she can do to stop it. Without belief, her home will continue to fade away untill she is trapped among the rubble. Afterall, she is confined to the Tooth Palace.

Ever since they lost the war, Tooth has been stuck within her home, unsure how the world outside was effected by the war. By keeping the Tooth Palace's location a secret and difficult to reach, Tooth hasn't had any visitors to tell her what happened. All she felt at the end of the war was the lights inside of her blinking out and her vision going black, before she woke up in the ruins of the Tooth Palace.

All she knows is that it has been 8 years since they lost. Watching the sun rise and fall, her mind often wanders to worry. She doesn't know what happened to her Baby Teeth, especially with her power gone, and that scares her more than anything. They were her special helpers and her closest friends.

Yet when she's not thinking about them, she worries for the children growing up without the Guardians. The children they failed. She has ideas about what the world is now, but nothing solid. Afterall, with no connection to the world, there is nothing she can do to find out.

Sitting with her feet over the edge, Tooth's mind distracted by the sunset, she almost misses the tingle in her mind that tells her of another Spirit in the Tooth Palace. Jumping up as quickly as she can on aching legs, she stares out over her domain.

Initially she sees nothing, just more sky, before a shadow flashes past her vision. A solitary figure on a flying carpet. Yet, as she stares at it, her mind's telling her that there is something in the centre of her home. Trusting it while extremely curious and excited, Tooth begins to move towards the feeling.

Tooth knew that as her power faded, so did her body. She had lost her wings 8 years ago and her legs hurt when she walked. Yet had always been determined to not let that make her helpless as she constantly wandered the Tooth Palace. She had to leap between some of the towers, but she could do it. So with curiosity driving her, she made her way towards the platform near the centre.

As she lands not as gracefully as she would have liked, she notices a shadow beside her. Standing up, she sees the Spirit is Jack Frost. Shock and relief fills her as he stands there, hands in his pockets and looking at the Tooth Palace.

"Jack. Jack Frost," she calls out towards him. 

Jack doesn't respond or even acknowledge her. Yet in her excitement, Tooth doesn't notice. Instead she continues to talk at high speed as she moves towards him.

"It's been so long, are you ok? Do you know how the others are doing? What's happening in the world? Do you know what's happened to my Baby Teeth?"

Reaching Jack, she runs up and hugs him only to find her arms passing right through him. Stumbling, she turns around to look at him, fear creeping into her mind. Jack doesn't acknowledge her.

"Wait, can you see me?" She asks as she waves a hand towards his face, fearing the worst.

The hand pases right through Jack, the same way Spirits pass through humans who cannot see them. Panic sets in as Tooth knows exactly what that means. She's invisible to both worlds.

"I'm invisible."

The words slip out of her mouth without meaning to as her legs buckle out from beneath her. She falls onto her knees and stares, mind blank. She doesn't know what to think.

"Hey Tooth," Jack says, interrupting her mental spiral.

For an instant Tooth looks up in happiness. Jack can see her. She was wrong. Then she notices that he is not looking at her, but rather sitting down with his legs over the edge and looking at the sunset. As Tooth looks at Jack, she begins to notice the changes.

She sees the slump in his posture, the blank expression and remembers the flat tone of his voice. Instantly Tooth knows something is wrong and Jack is changing. What happened to Jack Frost over the past 8 years that caused this? Tooth doesn't know but now worries for the rest of the world.

"You know, after visiting Bunny, you'd think that I would know if you were here or not. I hope you are."

As Jack says that, he drops his head down and sighs. At the mention of Bunny, Tooth's ears perk up briefly before she realises what he means. Bunny is in the same situation as her. North too, probably. Somehow that doesn't fill her with a measure of hope, although it is nice to know that they are still alive. Although, it didn't answer what happened to her Baby Teeth.

Wondering why he also visited Bunny, Tooth walks over and sits next to him. Forgetting her invisibility, she tries to put her hand on Jack's shoulder before looking out at the sunset.

"I don't even know if you hate me. You probably do. I'm probably the last person you ever wanted to see again."

Tooth is shocked. Why would Jack think she hated him? Then she remembers the Easter Sunday and how she parted ways with him. He may have messed up but they were all a little harsh on him, something she now regrets. Tooth had assumed that Jack would have bounced back afterwards, he was a troublemaker and always had when told off. However, looking at him now, she isn't sure that was the case as his change in attitude seems like it has been around a while. She drops her head with guilt.

"Jack..." She starts, only to have him continue to talk over her 

"I just needed to come here and to say sorry. I'm so sorry. You all trusted me and I got you all killed. It's my fault Pitch covered the world in darkness. And I know saying sorry will mean nothing to you. I know sorry won't change a thing, but I need to say it. I need to say sorry."

"You weren't there," Tooth finds herself saying as she looks at Jack. "But that doesn't mean that it's completely your fault. You didn't have Baby Tooth with you. Something happened."

She looks back at the last rays of the sun, trying to forget everything. She can't. Instead she continues to talk in the silence Jack has left. Tooth knows Jack can't hear her, but the words she's speaking are more for her own conscious as if she was trying to make it right. It was the same way Jack was talking to the Tooth Palace in the hopes that Tooth was listening, she hopes some part of Jack can hear her and understand.

"We instantly blamed you and chased you away," she continues. "You needed us and we didn't see it. I should be the one apologizing."

She didn't realise that had Jack started talking again, this time with an empty outstretched palm.

"...should tell you that Baby Tooth is fine. I found her when Pitch attacked me after I screwed everything up."

At those words, Tooth's heart picked up with joy. A Baby Tooth was fine. Instantly she starts looking around for them, only to see nothing. She wants to ask where, to see her Baby Tooth, before she looks again at Jack's palm. He held it out almost as if he was holding something in it. Holding a Baby Tooth.

Tooth doesn't know if to smile or cry. On one hand, at least one of them was fine and with Jack, yet on the other, they were invisible to her and probably all the other Spirits. Tooth had no idea how Jack could see them though. She hopes it isn't his mind gone mad.

As she is thinking about the Baby Tooth, a thought hits her. The second half of Jack's sentence about how Pitch attacked him. Was that Pitch's plan? To seperate Jack from the Guardians so he could attack him alone? They had all seen how Jack's staff had repelled the nightmares when the fight first started. At that point Tooth realises that she hasn't seen Jack holding his staff when he had turned up at the Tooth Palace, nor had he ridden the winds but gotten a lift by the second Spirit.

Then Tooth notices the broken staff sticking out of his pocket.

Tooth knows instantly that this means Jack has lost his powers and from the way he had mentioned the attack, it had most likely happened then. He had most likely been imprisoned in Pitch's lair, only just now escaped without his powers or his joy.

As she is thinking this, Jack continues to speak as about the Baby Tooth.

"She deserved better than to be stuck with me." He pauses for a moment before talking as if almost in response to something. "Don't say that Tooth, you know I'm right. You should probably stay here anyway."

For an instant, confusion fills Tooth's mind. She didn't say anything. Then she realises that Jack is talking to the Baby Tooth in his palm and that they are responding to him. This brings a small smile to her face as she listens to this strange one sided conversation.

"You're right there. Thanks." Jack continues before pausing briefly. 

Tooth smiles at the palm, realising whatever her helper was saying was to try and help Jack. From the way he was talking, Tooth guesses he is fighting thoughts and ideas in his own mind and that Baby Tooth was trying to stop it. Before she can do anything though, Jack speaks again, this time to her.

"I'm getting distracted. I didn't just come here to say sorry, I came here to say goodbye too."

"Jack, what's going on?" Tooth asks, hoping for a response.

"The Spirits are planning a final attack on Pitch Black in an effort to defeat him," Jack continues, his voice going flat. "But Pitch is too strong, too powerful and we can't beat him. We're probably all just going to get ourselves killed."

Tooth can only stare in panic as Jack says that. She doesn't know what else to do. Every thought in her head is racing through, trying to find a way out of this situation that they are in. Yet she can think of nothing that she can do. All she can do is sit and watch as Jack talks.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight. I have to try."

"No..." Tooth responds, her words fading on the air. His staff was broken and he had no power to stop Pitch like he used to be able to do. With Pitch's new found power from the belief in him, Jack and the other Spirits didn't stand a chance. Grief and panic wells inside her, desperate to stop what she guesses is coming.

"So I guess this is goodbye for real. I'll make sure that Baby Tooth survives this though. I owe it to her and to you."

As he says this, Jack stands up, unaware of Tooth sitting next to him. He pauses for a moment, long enough to see that the troublemaker and snowball thrower is gone, and unlikely to come back. There is a sadness and acceptance to his final speech and Tooth knows that he believes this to be the truth. 

Yet despite everything, she feels gratitude towards Jack for at least protecting one of her Baby Teeth and she knows he will try and keep his word. He appears to care for her. Tooth can only hope that Jack decides not to fight because he wants to protect Baby Tooth.

"Goodbye Tooth," Jack says as he turns to leave.

"Goodbye Jack," Tooth responds, still sitting there, wishing she could change something but knowing that there is nothing she can do.


	8. The North Pole

Nicholas St. North sits in an old wooden armchair in front of the empty fireplace, watching nothing. The North Pole around him lies silent, dust and cobwebs creeping into the rooms and corners and he sits there. He's surprised that they haven't covered him yet. 

Around him, the silence is deafening. There hasn't been any noise in at the North Pole since the collection of Spirits came to look for him 8 years ago. Instead North can imagine he can hear the whirring of machines and presents waiting to be packaged, along with the jingles of the elves and the deeper sounds of the yetis. He doesn't know what happened to his helpers, he hasn't seen them since he was forced back into him home by a power he knew came from the last light going out.

No light has come from the globe in those 8 years, but North is not surprised. He knows now that children don't believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Knows that the knowledge of the Spirits told in tales by parents and friends under blankets are gone. He knows that it's unlikely the globe will light up again. Instead it will stay dormant in his old home, the power of Pitch Black still scattered around the base and top.

Despite that, North continually find himself missing the old days and looking up at the globe in the hope that he can see a small little speck of light staring back at him. Yet he knows that if a child did believe, he would feel it. Nobody believes. Instead, he is a relic of the past watching the North Pole slowly fade away with time. He still remembers building it by hand, walking through the bare bones of the structure and pointing out where everything was going to be. Remembers when a few of the elves got hold of a Nerf gun and accidentally knocked a yeti through a window. Or when one of the reindeer got loose on the bottom floor after eating a lot of his sugar biscuits. The memories bring a smile to his face, despite the damage and pain they caused in the moment.

Still smiling, North looks out the window into the vestiges of the snowstorm still falling against the dusty windows. For an instant, North thinks he sees a flash of shadow flying past the window. Looking at it, North doesn't know what he is hoping it is, despite that feeling flashing quickly in his mind. But the shadow is gone a quickly as it came to pass, and he has no way to tell what it is. Hoping it was a Spirit, North lies back into the chair. It would be nice to see another Spirit, even if he was invisible. North might even be able to guess about the state of the world and the children if there were more than one.

But as time passes, North grows less hopeful. He was mistaken about what he saw. Yet even as he thinks that thought, his senses twinge as he feels two Spirits enter the top of his home. Smiling, North watches the path he can feel them coming towards. He can feel one of them waiting behind while another walks forward, only for the one waiting to follow moments later. It was as if the first Spirit didn't want the second Spirit to know they were coming, despite arriving together. Confused, North decides to wait. Anyway, his aching bones don't feel like they need a walk.

At that moment, Jack Frost walks around the corner.

North stares on wonder. Jack Frost was alive? When the other Spirits had come to the North Pole 8 years ago, they had spoken to each other of the disappearance of the Guardians and Jack Frost, believing him to also be a Guardian. North knew that Jack had never taken the Guardian oath. He wouldn't have faded when the children stopped believing, but rather would have just remained invisible, so the knowledge of his disappearance was worrying. It didn't matter that 8 years ago North had been mad at him for betraying them. He suspected that there was more to Jack's story that they wouldn't let him explain and couldn't stay mad at him forever. Instead he was worried and feared the worst.

So to see Jack walk around the corner alive causes North to stand up at his old friend. 

"Jack?" He says before his knees give way and he falls over. Grabbing one of his swords from beside the chair and using it as a walking stick, he stands back up. During his fall, Jack has gone to lean on the banister, looking out over the dark globe and workshop. Jack lets out a deep sigh and bows his head a bit, leaning on his arms. North knows something is wrong.

He can see it in Jack's posture, read it in the blankness of his face and the heaviness of his feet. He can also see the broken staff hanging out of his pocket. All North can do is stare. He can't connect this hunched figure with the laughing and joyful Jack Frost he remembers from 8 years ago. At that moment, North remembers how Jack reacted after Sandy's death all those years ago. He had blamed himself, despite not being directly involved. What would happen if the Guardians had angrily told him the loss of the war was his fault? North guesses he might be looking at it. Almost instantly, he also wonders if Jack broke his own staff, before quickly dismissing the thought. He could blame Pitch for that one, Jack had gone through enough.

He lets out a small sound of regret and sorrow, breaking the heavy silence that was resting between them. Jack doesn't react, instead still looking at the banister. North joins him. He wants to say something, wants to apologize for everything. 

"You know, after visiting Bunny and Tooth, this would get easier," Jack speaks out instead looking back up. His voice is almost monotone.

For an instant, North forgets he's invisible. Forgets that the same thing would have happened to Bunny and Tooth as he looks at Jack, expecting him to be looking back. Jack still faces the dark globe and lets out a breath. 

"It doesn't," he continues.

The knowledge that Jack talked to both Tooth and Bunny, stood in the emptiness of their homes and spoke to air is both a comfort and a worry to North. In a way, it's nice to know that his suspicions are confirmed about them suffering the same fate. Yet, why would Jack be visiting them all at one time after 8 years? Why now? North doesn't know how the others think of Jack, if they still hate him. For some reason, he doesn't want to know the answer. North guesses it's because he's seen who Jack became by carrying around those thoughts and doesn't want the others to be changed in other ways.

"Every time I stand in one of your homes, I'm reminded of what I did," Jack interrupts the thinking North. "I'm so sorry North. I'm sorry that you thought you could trust me and I'm sorry that I destroyed you all. This is all my fault and I'm so sorry."

There's a brief pause before Jack continues, voice speeding up slightly as he looks back at his feet. 

"And I know how fake that sounds coming from someone like me, but it's the truth. But it doesn't matter anyway, because I know you don't believe me anyway."

Jack is trying not to cry as he says this. All North wants to do is go to Jack and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Jack,": North responds despite knowing his words fall onto empty air. It seems wrong to him to just stand their in silence. "You need to stop blaming yourself. We all make mistakes, yours was just at the wrong time."

North pauses for a second before continuing. 

"But I do believe you."

North knows that this isn't Jack's fault, despite what Jack believes. A belief North also knows that he is partly responsible for. Standing next to Jack, he realizes that it would have been better if Jack had never decided to visit the North Pole so that North didn't see what he had done. Almost immediately, guilt hits North as he knows that he needed to see what happened to Jack Frost and what he did to his friend. Additionally, North now knows he is alive, despite being powerless. Still looking down, Jack gives out another sigh. North guesses he isn't done talking and he came here to say something else. He doesn't know if he should be worried.

"The thing is, I didn't just come here to say sorry. I came here to say goodbye." Jack says out into the empty workshop.

"What are you talking about?" North responds, the worry creeping in. Despite that, he hopes it's just that Jack wants to tell him he's going to be fine and isn't going to be visiting again. For some reason, he doubts that this is the case.

"The other Spirits are organizing to fight Pitch, and I'm going to be joining them. It's just that..."

Jack trails off into silence. In any other situation, North would feel joy at the idea that the other Spirits were going to fight Pitch and perhaps stop him, returning the world to what it was. Yet this new Jack and his trail into silence replaces this joy with fear. Jack has no staff and therefore no powers. If he was fighting Pitch and his nightmares, it would be difficult to not get himself killed in the process.

"I can't do this," Jack says suddenly. "I can't lie to you."

North gets the impression that Jack's talking to himself, unaware of his presence. North can also feel the other Spirit waiting around a corner. Eavesdropping.

"Jack..." North begins, worried about what Jack is going to say next. 

"It's just that you always tried to believe in me," Jack continues, "You tried to make me feel like I could have a place with the Guardians. I feel like I owe this to you."

If Jack wasn't trusting Bunny and Tooth with what he was going to say next, then North had reason to be worried. There was the impression that, despite speaking from the heart, Jack knew what he wanted to say and what he wanted to keep hidden. Yet standing in the North Pole and his home made Jack feel like that lying wasn't the right move. Despite wanting to hear the truth, North didn't know if he wanted the burden. Jack continues regardless.

"Eight years ago, Pitch attacked me, broke my staff and trapped in the ice. When the others found me, they told me they were fighting Pitch and asked me join them. I said no. I didn't want to fight because I was getting what I deserved. I wasn't going to come."

There was a tone to his voice that has North more worried than ever. Instead he tried to focus on what Jack had told him. Despite the implication, it was a little bit of relief to North to hear definitively that Pitch was the one who broke his staff, and that his disappearance was due to him being stuck powerless in the ice. Still, all that time in the ice had implemented the thoughts that Jack was clearly listening too, making him want to stay in solitude in the ice. Before North could figure out why Jack had come in the first place, Jack speaks again.

"Then Salem took me aside and told me the truth. It was a suicide run. That the fight was hopeless. She was trying to use it so I would know how important this final goodbye was and how she wanted to remember me differently. She realized I had changed, but I guess she didn't figure out everything."

In the small pause, North hopes that his next sentence isn't the panicked thought in his head. It was.

"The fact that this is a suicide run is the only reason I said yes."

North doesn't know what to say and how to react. Yet he can see everything now and wonders why he didn't notice this sooner. Yet invisible, he can't do anything but stare and wish for things to change. If he acted differently on Easter Sunday, would things be different? Would Jack be the same troublemaker that he used to be? North guesses he would have changed a bit, but he wouldn't have been trapped with the thoughts in his head and away from those who could help him not go down this path. 

He know he needs to say something, anything, even if it is more for his own conscious than for the Jack who can't hear him. But as he open his mouth, now sound comes out. What could North say? I'm sorry almost seems fake while a no seems useless. There was a speech on the tip of his tongue that North couldn't figure out enough of to speak

"I'm tired, North," he says slowly to the surrounding room, voice filled with something North can't quite identify. "Tired of these feelings and thoughts. Tired of living with the knowledge of what I did and this, this is the only way I can see it ending. Anyway, it's what's best for everyone and the world doesn't need a Spirit like me."

"You're wrong. You tried to bring something into the world, despite the fact nobody saw you." North replies hopelessly. Jack didn't realize that he was important in a meaningful way or Manny wouldn't have tried to choose him 8 years ago. Despite the short time he spent with them, and how it ended, there was something in the air when Jack was around, a Center he was bringing to those around him. Something they never quite figured out what. 

He wants to tell Jack that, tell him to not give up and keep on fighting. Somehow make him realize that he was important and that his mind was wrong. Stop the path that The Guardians had unintentionally set him on. But he cant make the words form, can't get them out before Jack continues talking.

"I'm still going to fight. Just not with any intention to survive. I don't want to."

As he says that, the small nugget of hope that North had about them winning the fight vanishes. Even if they were going to win, he was sure that Jack would make sure he didn't survive by rushing Pitch or playing the decoy. Yet as Jack was talking about the fight, he realizes that a bunch of Spirits attacking an all powerful Pitch was a suicide run. They were all going to get themselves killed and all North can do is sit here, trapped and thinking about the past. He wants to do the impossible and stop them, stop Jack. Every random and crazy idea he's had to fight Pitch and bring back the belief in the last 8 years comes racing back hopelessly into his mind in an effort to change the future he sees coming. None of them are any good.

All North can do is stand there, leaning on the banister and waiting for Jack to finish speaking and he hates it. Hates the helplessness of his situation.

"I guess this is it. Goodbye North, and thank you for wanting to believe in me eight years ago." Jack says, unaware of North beside him.

With those words, Jack walks through North as he leaves, reminding North of his uselessness.

"Please Jack," he responds in a final desperate attempt. He doesn't want to say goodbye, fearing the finality of the word. Yet all he sees is the bent form of Jack walking away from him, leaving him leaning against the barrier with his fear and regrets.


	9. The Lake

The wind whistles past the two Spirits as they fly towards the meeting point. In the front, Salem's mind is racing. While Jack had visited the other Guardians, she had waited outside their homes, but when they had arrived at the North Pole, Salem knew something was different. She didn't know what prompted her to follow him, only that she wishes now she hadn't. There was always the suspicion in the back of her mind about why Jack came with them, especially since she told him that it was impossible that any of them would survive. Yet he had still come. Had only agree to come after she had told him. All the signs were there and yet Salem had refused to see them until she followed Jack into the North Pole.

She wants to say something, to talk to Jack about it and maybe stop this destructive path she knows he's on. But when she opens her mouth, words cannot form. 

What could she say? Jack, please don't try and get yourself killed on this suicide run. It was hopeless. Anyway, she knew that Jack would just ignore her, or reply to call out her hypocrisy. She hadn't told any of the other Spirits that she knew that there was no surviving this fight, instead letting them believe that there was a chance of success. She wasn't giving them a chance to say goodbye, to come to terms with everything and to make peace with their lives. Instead she was letting them charge in with hope in their eyes.

Before meeting Jack, she had never really questioned her decision. It was like Jack pointed out, there were moments of happiness in between the planning and the war and Salem didn't want to be the one to bring it all to a solemn end. Like the mud fight, they were glimmers into the past and a time worth remembering. She didn't know what happened to Spirits died, all she knew was that she kept her mouth shut to give them that small measure of belief. The belief that they died believing that they made a difference. Salem would carry that burden with her that she got every Spirit she cares killed because she didn't give them a chance to run.

Yet as she though that, she can feel Jack on the broom behind her. Guilt slowly enters her mind as she remembers that Jack already carries a burden of his own. The knowledge that he got the Guardians, Spirits he clearly cared about, killed. A burden Salem was looking at carrying. She doesn't know what to do, questioning every decision she has made since she decided to help lead this rebellion over 5 years ago. Every plan they had had previously beings to run through her mind, trying to ignore the truth. Attacking Pitch was the only option. They couldn't make children believe in something they had forgotten, they didn't have power with Pitch around. They could bring themselves back.

All they could do was head towards the future Salem knows is coming. 

Still questioning her choices, Salem turns back to look at Jack. He sits behind her, looking out over the passing landscape and towns with an almost peaceful expression on his face. It was as if his confession to North had helped his mind in some way. Instead of opening her mouth to speak, Salem returns to watching the world passing beneath her and letting Jack having this simple moment of peace. She could talk to him later about her new worries and if she should tell the other Spirits, or at the very least the leaders, about her beliefs. He would understand and know what to do.

As the pair fly over in silence, Salem's mind wanders in distraction. So when Jack finally speaks, she misses what he was trying to say. As she turns her head in question, she sees Jack looking at a small town below. It takes a moment for Jack to speak again.

"It's not important," he says.

"Jack, what is it?"

"I just wondered what happened to the world since Pitch won?"

Salem looks back out over the front of the broom, thinking for a moment. She didn't realize it, but she had been avoiding telling Jack everything that had happened since the end of the war. It was an effort to help Jack's mind, waiting for him to initiate the conversation when he was ready. Breathing deep, she starts to talk.

"Um, well the world is different," Salem doesn't know where to start. "You know that children don't believe anymore. To them, the Spirit world is invisible, it's gone. There are still stories that the children know and they are told about us, but they only see them as fanciful stories. Nothing more."

She briefly drops her head before continuing, still looking at the towns below.

"They live in their own worlds now. They still play and laugh, but as best as I can describe, there's an air to it. It's as if they're disconnecting with friends and family, loosing the creativity that we all knew and loved. Their games, if they play them at all, are simple and plain an based off board games orelectronic devices. That childhood wonder and hope and creativity is gone. It's... It's like they grow up too fast and as a consequence it's effecting who they are and who they could be. It's like all their innocence has disappeared. Gone.

"On top of that, there is a war coming. It's been talked about and in stalemate for the last 6 years and Pitch's influence isn't helping. There's a fear and worry in the air and people are just waiting for the bombs to drop. Especially with toady's weaponry. Everyone's just scared and the children know this. They're not protected from the dark and the horrors of the world anymore, but rather are just waiting for it come for them. Every night they get nightmares and everyday they just lose a little bit of hope.

"Christmas, Easter, Halloween still exist, but the family, the hope, the wonder, it's all gone. It's just about candy and presents. I'm actually glad the Guardians aren't here to see what they've become. It's just all so different. And I... we watch this happening and we can't do anything. All of us Spirits are just stuck. Invisible and powerless."

She didn't mean to, but her voice rose as she said those last few lines. The whole situation of the world crashing down upon her. In that instant, she forgot about Jack's situation, forget about what he had said earlier. She was talking to a nameless yet naive face without consequence. 

Then she remembered it was Jack she was talking to and looks back. He's still sitting behind her, looking down at the rapidly fading town, hand cupped near his neck. Salem can't see his face but hears a mutter of words on the wind. 

"Please don't say that. Please, just don't."

Salem gets the impression that he's not talking to her.

Instead he waits a few more moments before looking back at Salem. As he does so, guilt rushes through her veins and she turns to face the front. She doesn't want to see him, see what her words did to him. There was still that desire to remember him differently within her that she had managed to keep alive. A desire telling her that Jack in this moment of weaknesses was not something she wanted to see.

Instead she looks forward in silence. Jack doesn't say anything. 

As the flight continues in silence, Salem begins to realise that she might not have wanted to see what Jack looked like, but he might have needed her support. A support that she didn't offer. Not knowing how to fix it, she decides to continue in that same silence.

It takes them a little while to arrive at the meeting point. The Spirits had chosen a small frozen lake off the side of a small town. The place was chosen in honour of the Sandman, where he supposedly fell eight years ago. It was big enough to host a large number of Spirits and abandoned enough for them not to be noticed by Pitch for a few days at least. That was the plan, anyway. 

The night was quiet with the stars brightly shining from the heaven above, occasionally obscured by whisps of clouds. Snowfall lay light upon the ground. The frozen lake would reflect Manny's full face if it wasn't for the Mass of Spirits covering it. They spilled out the sides in a collection of shapes and colours, a far greater gathering than the one in the Daintree a few days ago. 

Yet this wouldn't be all of them. Instead the plan would be finalized here and these Spirits would head back to their teams. They all knew they couldn't all gather, or Pitch would find them, but this would allow them to still co-ordinate. But the minute they all left, it would be time to strike.

Landing on the edge of the town rather than in the middle like last time, Salem.packs away her broom once more. They had flown over the top, attracting the attention of a number of the Spirits below. She didn't want to land in the middle of them, not before checking up on how Jack was dealing with everything. 

Looking at him, she could tell that he was faking a smile. His eyes scan the distant area, tracing part of an unknown path, and Salem could tell he was in a memory. She didn't know what it was, only that it left a sad smile on his face like the memory was a good one. Then his eyes flick upwards towards the sky and Salem knows exactly who he is thinking of.

"We should get going," she finally interupts, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

Looking down and back at her, he nods before allowing himself to be guided towards the lake. Expecting silence, Jack's words startle Salem for a minute.

"I didn't think I'd see this place again."

"Pix has the idea to group here as a rememberance to Sandy," Salem trails off in response.

Jack opens his mouth to respond, only to change his mind. Instead he glances at his shoulder to where Salem assumes Baby Tooth is resting and gives a subtle nod. There was a connection between Jack and this place, one that probably pre-dated the Guardians, yet Salem did not know what it was. Before she can ask, Jack speaks again.

"So you never really told me this plan of yours."

"Sorry, I guess I got a bit distracted," she says, a small smile on her face. "Well the idea is to lure Pitch back into his lair. A small team will have to go in first, which will get his attention and bring him back in there. Intruders always do.

"While the first team engages, the rest of us will be waiting in a number of larger teams. When they send the signal, we all strike."

They're plan was flimsy at best, Salem knew this. Pitch would know they were there, waiting in ambush for them to all swarm in and attack him. All he would have to do would set his nightmares on the surrounding teams and they would be distracted to not give aid. Yet they were all desperate and running out of power. They needed to strike now or they would fade away completely.

"What will you be doing? Overseeing everything?" Jack asks.

"Not exactly," Salem replys, wanting to phrase her next words carefully. "Anyway, that's Pix's job. I'm going to be leading the team into Pitch's lair."

Salem had volunteered to run the infiltration team, asking only for volunteers. Despite the nature of their hope, all the Spirits, even Pix, seemed to accept that that particular assignment was the most dangerous and most likely suicidal. That was why she didn't want to force anyone on her team. She had a few other Spirits, but not too many. There were not many who would willingly chose to die to protect the world, despite the fact that death was a real possibility and something they couldn't avoid. 

"I want to join you."

Salem knew this question was coming. She also knew that there was only one way to respond to it.

"Ok."

As she says that though, Jack almost seems surprised, as if he was expecting resistance from her and was going to explain why he should go. Having Jack in the lair would help protect the other teams significantly for a while and would be a major distraction for Pitch. Anyway, it was unlikely that she could stop him.

"Thank you," Jack says instead.

Before anyone can respond or continue their conversation, the pair reach visual range of the edge of the cluster of Spirits. They can see Pix, hovering above the mess of Spirits, near the rocks to the side of the frozen lake. On those rocks stand Lucky and Groundhog, answering questions and chatting with each other. Spirits cover the lake, spilling out into the forest with voices of nervous excitement. Salem knew more needed to arrive before they could begin.

As they approach from the side, they head towards where Lucky, Groundhog and Pix are standing. Around them, Spirits part with whispers and questions, all of which they ignore. Salem wants to say something, wants to answer them, but can't find a way to make the words come out with the reality of everything beginning to settle in.

"Hey guys, how was the trip?" Pix calls out as they reach the front.

"A lot better than I thought," Jack responds with a smile on his face.

He was pretending again, Salem could see that. It was something he was good at, fighting away the darkness in his mind as to not drag others into it. As she steps up onto the rock to join the others, Jack stays in the below by the edge of the crowd. While they are staring at him, Jack seems not to notice.

"Well that's good," Lucky chimes in. "Salem, now that you're back, you want grab to other group leaders so we can get this plan going?"

"We're still waiting on a few Spirits," Salem says, scanning the crowd. "Give it a day or two for them to get here."

"Why wait when they're already here?" A voice calls from above them. A voice none of them wants to hear.

Pitch Black has arrived.


	10. Decisions

"Why wait when they're already here?"

Collectively the Spirits stare upwards as Salem mentally begins to panic. How had Pitch known about there meeting here? Was there a traitor? She knew her thoughts were ludicrous as Pitch held the beliefs of the children, of course he had the power to figure out what was going on. However, the question of his arrival hung in the air, a question Pitch seems happy to answer. 

"You really think that I wouldn't know about your little gathering in the woods. My nightmares like to keep me well informed." He smiles as he says this, a sinister grin creeping over his face as he surveys the Spirits. His eyes linger on the four of them before moving to the crowd, taking in their terrified expressions as nobody moves. If he notices Jack, he doesn't seem to react.

Instead he jumps down from his high point to land beside the rocks. Salem, Lucky and Groundhog collectively take a step backwards in response, unintentionally screening Jack from Pitch. Salem doesn't know how he's reacting, but she guesses it wouldn't be good. After staring at them for a moment, Pitch begins to walk around the edge of the gathering. The Spirits move out of the way for him in fear and hatred and Salem can see more than a couple waiting to attack. Glancing at Pix, she can see that they are both questioning the idea of just all pouncing on Pitch in that moment. It would be as effective as their other plan anyway.

But there was something in his confidence that held Salem back from giving the order. Pitch was unafraid of the mass of Spirits, despite their clearly hostile intentions. For an instant Salem considers just attacking him anyway, giving the order and calling in the charge. But as her eyes briefly flicker into the surrounding woodland she can see the shadows moving unnaturally. Nightmares. She didn't know if Pitch plans to attack them here and now, but she realizes that charging at Pitch now would bring down the power of his Nightmares upon them all. They could all fight Nightmares, but an army and Pitch was slightly too much right now. At least with the old plan, he would have to summon them.

So the four of them give no order, watching him walk towards the snowy entrance to the lake area. Every eye is trained on him as he holds his head high and confident, the tension holding the air like a knife point. A hand falls on Salem's shoulder, shocking her out of the trance to look into Jack's face. It's emotionless.

"You need to run," he says with a slight nod to his head.

"What?" She responds, despite agreeing with Jack. If they attacked Pitch here, it would very quickly become obvious that the battle was hopeless and that small measure of illusion that Salem wants to give them would be gone. She didn't realize that Jack also understood that. Then again, he was fighting for his own reasons.

Jack looks towards Pitch, still talking under his breath to Salem alone. The other Spirits were held in the trance of Pitch Black.

"You need to get the Spirits out of here. I'll distract Pitch."

"But..."

"Salem, I know you were listening," Jack interrupts, looking Salem straight in the eyes. There is a serious yet sad expression, a plea, in his face as he stares at her, hand still on her shoulder. However, Salem hardly notices this as the realization that Jack knew she was eavesdropping on him hits her. He knew and yet he didn't seem to care. She didn't know how he knew, but she knew why he was saying it now. Charging Pitch now and alone was suicide, yet Jack was willing to do this to give the other Spirits a chance to escape and regroup.

"Jack..." She begins in response, not even sure how to finish it.

"Run."

With that simple word, Jack drops his hand and pulls the broken staff from his pocket. One piece in each hand, he starts walking towards Pitch with determination and raised shoulders. The Spirits around him part to allow him to pass, each guessing correctly that he is planning to confront Pitch. It was as if he was a figure from an old story parting the sea as he walks. No one speaks. In this silence, Salem looks at her fellow leaders before quickly following behind Jack. If she could help him and attack Pitch, she would, but more likely from the front would be a better place to help hold off the Nightmares when they decided to run.

As they follow Jack, Pitch reaches the entrance to the frozen lake. Raising his hand, his eyes scan around the area to summon the Nightmares he has waiting. The step from the shadows, shining coats and red eyes with huff under their breaths. Without meaning to, Salem shifts, a blank white mask covering her face, tatted clothes instead of robes and two large bloody knives in her hand. A slasher. She knows a fight is coming, even if Jack distracts Pitch, as they will have to deal with the Nightmare blocking every escape.

"I think this has gone on long enough," Pitch says, arm raised and ready to drop.

At that moment, Jack reaches the front of the mass of Spirits and pushes his way through them to face Pitch. Pitch stares at Jack in surprise, shock clearly visible on his face before turning into a smile. There is an anger behind the expression as he holds Jack's gaze, neither saying anything.

"Jack. Jack Frost?" Pitch asks, still unsure if this is the real Jack. His eyes take in the Spirit and his broken staff, evidently concluding that this is indeed Jack Frost.

"Hello Pitch," is Jack's only response. His voice is flat once again, the pretense of joy no longer visible. His expression for Pitch alone. 

"And here I was thinking I would never see you again," Pitch says with a small smile. "How was the ice, Jack?"

Jack doesn't respond except to stand there, looking. Salem sees a faint breeze rustling the air and the two figures, almost like an old fashioned stand off. The Spirits behind her say nothing, letting the silence between them hold the air. Seeing that Jack wasn't responding, Pitch smiles smiles and almost begins to pace as he keeps talking.

"You know, I thought you told me you wanted to be left alone. But here you are, with _friends_ no less. I'm honestly surprised. Even without your staff and powers, you're quite resourceful. My offer could still stand you know."

The word friends is poised with sarcasm and disbelief. Behind her, whispers begin to gather as the Spirits question what Pitch is talking about. Salem didn't know. Obviously something had happened between Pitch and Jack during the fight that the other Spirits did not hear about. Curiosity building, she keeps her mouth shut and waits for the silence to build again. Instead Jack raises a hand and points on half of his broken staff at Pitch.

"And I told you before Pitch, I'd never work with you. That's not what I want." Jack responds, slamming his hand down in almost frustration and anger. 

So that was what had happened. Obviously Pitch had noticed Jack as a powerful Spirit helping the Guardians and had tried to get him to switch sides. Jack was a troublemaker and it was easy to guess that perhaps Jack and the Guardians had had a run in before the war which wasn't positive. Before the war, most Spirits tended to avoid him. Luckily for everyone, Jack had refused and stayed with the Guardians and the idea of him changing sides was almost ridiculous.

A brief snarl flashes on Pitch's face before going back to the smile. 

"But of course, you've got friends now. Something and someone that believes in you."

Pitch fills the sentence with barbs that Salem doesn't quite understand. Yet she can see Jack react in the tensing of his shoulders and the tightening of his hands on the staff. Pitch had hit a nerve. Briefly she wonders if it has to do with Jack's new found popularity for the last 8 years but Jack's reaction was wrong. He didn't know about that until recently. Anyway, behind her she can sense that some of the Spirits almost seem to understand what Pitch is talking about. Something before the war? Salem didn't know enough about Jack Frost to understand what it was. Sensing his reaction and seeing his face, Pitch gestures out towards the other Spirits waiting behind them and speaks again, a cruel smile growing.

"You know, I'm surprised that they're still here, that they want to be friends with you. Especially given what you did."

This time, Salem knows exactly what Pitch is talking about. Jack's accidental destruction of the Guardians. She also gets the feeling that Pitch isn't going to be keeping that a secret for much longer, especially with the confused voices rising behind her. Wanting to protect Jack, her mind begins racing with ways of responding that would break the conversation briefly without suspicion. It's not just that she guesses the reaction of the other Spirits wouldn't be good, but also Jack was obviously not ready to talk about it and see their reaction might take all the fight from him. Unfortunately, Lucky talks before her.

"Jack, what is he talking about?"

"You didn't tell them?" Pitch says, smiling broadly as he guesses how what's about to happen. After all, it was most likely that Pitch knew that the other Spirits had almost idolized Jack and the Guardians. He looks like a kid about to kick a sibling's sandcastle. "I'm surprised. I mean, if I was the reason the Guardians were destroyed I would be telling everyone."

"What do you mean?" Lucky responds again, hoping that he heard incorrectly. The murmurs are growing, an assortment of disbelief and outright dismissal of what Pitch just said. They didn't want to believe it, so they weren't. However, Salem knew that Jack believes it's his fault, so he wouldn't defend himself against those accusations. Instead he just stands there in front of them all, head dropping a tiny amount, saying nothing. 

"Just that Jack Frost here was the one that destroyed the Guardians." Pitch continues, using the silence Jack is leaving him.

With that simple conformation, everybody stares at the back of Jack. He still stands there, silent, as if almost unaware of the chaos that is going on behind him. Spirits whisper and stare, disbelief and denial weaving their way between them. Just from the mood behind her, Salem could guess that a denial from Jack and they would believe him over Pitch. But as moments progress without response, the doubt begins to grow. 

"You're lying," Lucky speaks up, looking straight at Pitch, his tone reflecting the mood Salem senses behind her. He glances towards Jack. "Tell me he's lying Jack."

"Go on Jack," Pitch chimes in, leaning forward slightly. "Lie to them."

Jack's head and shoulders slump and his hands loosen their grip on the parts of his staff.

"I can't," is all he responds, his voice monotone and devoid of hope. He just stands there.

The voices erupt behind Salem as she keeps her eyes firmly on Jack and Pitch. She doesn't want to see what is going on behind her, her imagination is enough. It's as if she can imagine faces of betrayal and distrust shared between the Spirits who once trusted Jack, once saw him as a hero. She wanted to scream out, defend him, but her voice didn't work as every sound around her seems like a gag. What could she say? 

Pitch didn't even need to say anything else as he watches the Spirits turn their anger from him onto Jack Frost. He just stands there, smiling that same cruel smile that she wants to punch off his face. Still mentally trying to find a solution, a small figure that Salem recognizes as Pix lands on her shoulder. Despite not wanting to, she forces herself to look at the pixie. Betrayal and hatred is clear on Pix's face as her eyes dart between Jack and Salem. Instantly Salem realizes that Pix wants to run and abandon Jack, a sentiment that she guesses is growing behind her.

"Salem...." Her voice trails off as she examines the twisted face behind the hockey mask. Pix knew Salem long enough to recognize that her face and expressions were not ones of betrayal or anger, but rather a hopeless struggle as she's trying to find away out of this situation and a desperation to speak out. "You knew."

"Yes," she snaps back at Pix, voice harder than she expects. Pulling herself together, she continues to whisper furiously under her breath. "Jack told me what happened back in the crevasse. Why do you think he didn't want to leave?"

"But why didn't you say something?" she responds, eyes full of question. She wants to believe in the happy ending that was falling around her.

"Because I knew this would happen. And because what..." Salem begins. Unfortunately before she can finish, Pitch speaks again having grown bored of the turn of events. Perhaps he can feel the air of Spirits fleeing. Most likely, he did not care enough. He had destroyed the hope that the Spirits had and while that had had it's enjoyment, Jack's acceptance of his story had put a dampener on it.

"Look at them Jack," he says almost lazily, gesturing towards the other Spirits. "You're friends. They don't believe in you any more than the human world did."

If Jack had any response on his face, then he doesn't show it. Rather he just stands there, unmoving and still looking at either the ground or Pitch. Almost broken. This was the figure that Salem had found in the crevasse beneath the ice, trapped within painful memories without care for himself. She could feel Pix's recognition of this version of Jack from the South Pole. Yet glancing at Pix showed no change in her opinion about what Pitch had told them all. 

"You had your chance to join me, to be believed in. I guess I don't want you beside me anymore." 

With those words, Pitch turns to leave before pausing briefly, head tilted back over his shoulder.

"Destroy them all," he adds with a careless flick of his wrist. Around him, the Nightmare begin to huff and whinny in excitement, stepping forward to close the Spirits into their destruction.

Around Salem, the Spirits slowly snap out of their haze to this more impending danger. Grabbing weapons and preparing magic, their eyes lock with the shadows of their new foes. Yet despite raising her knives towards the closest Nightmare, she's still looking at Jack as he stands there. It was as if he wasn't even noticing the world. Yet as she looks between him and her foe, she can see his hands tighten once more on his ruined staff, see his head and shoulders raise and his back straighten.

She can watch as Jack suddenly charges Pitch Black.


	11. Pitch and Jack

Feet pounding in the snow, Jack charges towards the retreating figure of Pitch. With every step, his cares and emotions begin falling away to anger as he realises that for the first time in eight years, Jack doesn't want to blame himself for what happened. The anger is still there. He's angry at Pitch for everything that he has caused, and Jack's angry at himself for ultimately falling into his trap. That doesn't mean he's stopped blaming himself, but rather that he's trying to ignore those feelings behind a flimsy wall. Instead his mind hears the footsteps in the snow and silent gasps of the Spirits behind him being replaced by a static sound of anger.

And in a way, there's a peace to that sound that was beginning to flow and rage though his mind. A peace Jack knows mostly comes from his impending demise. It was like what Salem had said, charging Pitch was suicide, and there was no doubt what the outcome would be. Jack knew he would die on this icy lake. Still, as he runs, he can feel a small warmth building in his chest. It sits there comfortably, almost seeming to beckon him forward. However, unlike the rest of his emotions, this small nugget of something else doesn't seem to stem from his anger or peace. Instead it comes from something else within Jack, something that had always been there.

In front of him, Pitch turns, hearing the pounding footsteps in the snow, shock registering on his face. Seeing this, Jack leaps with his right arm, raised to strike, a sound or shout escaping from his lips. The words meaning nothing more than an extension of his own anger as he swings down hard upon Pitch.

In response, Pitch tries to step back to avoid the blow. He mostly succeeds and ends up only catching the end of the staff in the shoulder. It slams down hard, forcing him to bend over slightly. Jack follows with a secondary swing using the left hand towards the stomach. It smashes into his side, forcing him to take several steps backwards to avoid falling over. Pitch stumbles, doubled over and looking at the snow beneath his feet, a slight hiss of pain escaping his lips. He stands there almost waiting for Jack's next move. Using the moment, Jack runs forward to strike again, arm raised to the right side. This time however, Pitch is ready, responding with a blast of black sand towards the attacking arm. The black sand is an icy cold, numbing to the touch, as it forces Jack's outstretched arm behind him, breaking his attack as it forces him to be pushed slightly to the side.

Pitch stands up, a combination of both a cruel snarl and a smile falling onto his face. Arm still outstretched, black sand begins to coalesce around his hand to form a long black scythe. Taking up a fighting stance, Pitch and Jack stare at each other for a moment. Unflinching. Between them a small wind seems to swirl around, dancing left and right as snow softly begins to fall under the full moon. The Nightmares and the Spirits wait in a locked silence, every eye fixed on these two Spirits. The tension hold for a second. Two seconds. Three seconds. 

Then Pitch smiles, and with a expert twirl of his scythe, he charges for the attack. Nightmares following behind to destroy the remaining Spirits.

Jack responds, his mind focusing on the fight in front of him. Raising his broken staff, he blocks the first two of Pitch's attacks, each one still scattering him with a portion of black sand. Behind him, the sounds of war break out as the remaining Spirits clash with the army of nightmares. Jack doesn't hear it, instead focusing on blocking a third strike from Pitch's blade. For him, he hears only silence and the pounding of his own heart. Taking a step back, Jack moves his right arm to block the next strike as he takes a swing at Pitch using his left staff. But before he can land a blow on Pitch's side, the scythe swirls, its handle blocking the blow. Not wanting to lose the advantage, Jack presses forward with a flurry of attacks. Pitch easily blocks all of them with his twirling scythe, a smile still resting on his face as he is forced backwards for a few paces.

Jack's mind races. If he knows he can't beat Pitch with his broken staff. After all, Pitch was clearly skilled with his chosen weapon through years of practice, while Jack has none. All he knew how to do was swing, guided by his anger at his own failure. So he kept swinging, trying to keep Pitch on the defensive. This wasn't just because Jack knew that the longer his fight with Pitch continued, the longer that the Spirits had to escape; but also because with every swing he could feel himself coming back. The rage was still there, along with the demons in his own head. But that small glow in his chest began to burn brighter, bringing back memories of 8 years ago.

Swing. He was fighting in a street back to back with Sandy. Swing. He was smiling at Bunny in the Warren. Swing. North had slapped him on the back in a friendly manner. Swing. He was talking with Tooth. Swing. He was collecting teeth with the other Guardians, pulling pranks and laughing. Swing. 

The memories hurt. Each one reminding him of his own failure and what the world had lost. But that pain kept driving him forward, the flimsy wall he had built to keeping the demons at bay. Yet, they also brought along a sense of something else. There was a feeling of loss and sorrow to those memories. Like something had fallen from the world that the small warmth in his chest was reminding him of. Dismissing it, he keeps fighting, pushing Pitch back several more paces. Then Jack makes a mistake.

It was a simple swing to wide, a slight re-correction of his stance, but Pitch saw it and attacked. His blows came fast as the expertly twirled his scythe. Jack parried two before ducking under a third. But Pitch was relentless, swinging a third, forth, fifth time. All Jack could do now was defend. Without the wind to guide him, he was slower than he used to be with his full power, causing him to mainly block the blows Pitch sent his way. He ducked another blow, taking a few steps backwards. But even before he could steady himself, Pitch was already there to continue pressing his advantage. At that moment Jack knew that is he didn't do something fast then he would be forced to continue defending until his strength ran out and Pitch won. 

He could already feel exhaustion creeping into his arms like a slow frost. His hands hurt as he tightly maintained the grip on both halves of his broken staff and his wrists ached from blocking so many blows. He could feel his legs wanting to rest for a few moments, unsteady without the wind to guide them. He didn't know how long they had been fighting. It could have been mere minutes, or it could have been hours. 

Taking a risky chance, Jack steps forward into Pitch's next strike, ducking to the side to avoid it and swinging both his staff ends at Pitch with all his might. Another shouting sound escapes him as he swings with all the strength and anger he has left. Seeing this, the smile on Pitch's face grows as he breaks the attack by swinging the handle of the staff upwards faster than Jack can see. The blow landing itself true across both halves of the staff and forcing them upwards. Not wanting to lose his only weapons, Jack maintains his grip, his arms raising as he stumbles backwards. He realises his mistake a moment later. 

Pitch swings again, the strike landing true into Jack's side.

The force of the blow sends Jack flying and tumbling into a nearby snow drift at the edge of the frozen pond. The icy pain erupting from his side where the blade had hit and sending small rivers of the same feeling through his body that washed through him in gentle waves. Yet for some reason, the icy pain didn't seem to sit right in his chest. That small glow was chasing it away, although the relief it offered was not enough. Opening his eyes, he sees the snow around him and his own curled body. Jack could see the dark patch of black sand on his right side. A few small grains dribbled from the wound as it slowly began to spread across his hooded jumper. He could feel it now too, spider webs of black sand moving its way across his body, slowly giving him the same fate as Sandy. 

'So this is it,' Jack found himself thinking. The anger was gone, replaced only with a peaceful acceptance and the warmth in his chest.

Turning away and letting his head push back into the snow, Jack surveys his surroundings. From the corner of his vision he can see the fight still carrying on behind him, the noise still muffled to his ears. There are a few faces turned briefly towards him with expressions unreadable, before the Nightmares forced them back into the fight. Pitch was there, slowly walking towards the Spirits, scythe trailing on the snow behind him and leaving a thin line. He can see the closest Spirit to Pitch is Pix, who is currently blasting another nightmare with a handful of pixie dust, causing it to splutter and retreat. She doesn't notice Pitch.

Jack opens his mouth to shout a warning, but no words escape it, only a small cough of black sand. There was nothing he could do to stop the advance and despite what Salem had said about the likelihood of everyone dying, he didn't want to see it happen. He tries to force himself to move, to warn Pix, but it was too late. The pain racing through his body kept him bound to the cool snow. All he could do was watch, still not hearing any more that a faint muffled fight that was quickly being hidden by the sound of wind. 

Yet to Jack's eyes, time seems to slow and his mind races in his final moments as the black sand continues to spread. He can see the spirits fighting in slow motion, see their faces of panic, determination and desperation. A few Spirits lay defeated on the snow, their bodies slowly fading away into oblivion. He can see that they didn't have the chance to run and are now locked in a desperate fight with the Nightmares. Even in death he still couldn't do anything right. So instead he drags his gaze away from the battle to stare up at the full moon. Jack can almost imagine that Manny is staring down at him instead of the final battle raging behind him. Snow falls slightly more heavily now as it dances in the twirling wind.

"Why?" The word barely escapes Jack's lips and is instantly lost to that wind. There is more he wants to say. After all, why did Manny chose Jack to be the one to help the Guardians. If Jack had never been chosen, if Manny had chosen someone else, then the Guardians wouldn't have been destroyed and none of this would have happened. Instead here they were all dying here as Pitch once again stole the magic of childhood away from the children. 

Manny simply responded with a silent stare. There were words to that stare however, an emotion that caused the warmth in his chest to glow again. A choice that Jack was facing even now. He understood that Manny had chosen him for a reason, as there used to be a time when he could have defeated Pitch. But time was gone, along with his powers. Yet Manny was clearly still offering him that choice. Jack didn't understand why.

Opening his mouth again to ask another question, he feels a glow within him. Jack wasn't sure how he understood it, but the warmth seemed to almost be promising an answer to his question, as it beckoned him to look away from both the moon and the battle. Unsure why, Jack obliged, instead looking to the space where Pitch and his Nightmare once stood. The entrance to the pond. Between the dancing snow and the trees Jack could see the lights of the town flickering in the night. In a way it was almost ironic, as this was the spot where Jack first opened his eyes as the mischievous Spirit of winter and that he knew the town like the back of his hand. In a way it was his home. Staring at it now, little seemed to have changed, although he did spy a few new buildings. 

Looking at the town and with his mind threatening to fall into the past, Jack almost misses the two silhouettes standing at the entrance to the pond. One of the figures appears to be an older boy, slightly thin and would be a little gangly, if he wasn't short with shoulder length brown hair. Next to him is a girl, no older than 12 with long blonde hair covering half her face stares at the pond. Jack knew that neither of them would be able to see the fight that is currently raging there, yet girl has grabbed the boy's hand and is looking towards the lake in confusion. They stand there in the slowing time, squinting as if trying to see the fight. There is something about the pair that seems familiar, despite being mostly hidden by the light. Then Jack recognises them as memories of their adventures being running through his mind. Painting eggs and sledding. Setting a greyhound on Bunny. In a way these memories of a happier time bring a slight smile to his face as he begins to feel himself slipping away into the icy darkness as he closes his eyes.

At that moment Jack Frost understands.

He knows why he was chosen to fight Pitch, and why in the end, he was the only one who could truly do it. It wasn't random chance or pity, there was a power with him that Jack was finally beginning to understand. A centre. He knew his time in the ice, time after the defeat of the Guardians had changed him, and he was unsure that he could ever return to the Spirit he once was. The voice in his head was too loud for that. But that wasn't the point. The point was to find the moments between that, moments where the voice was drowned out with something else. He could almost imagine that in a way the world was like his own mind, trapped by the whispers of nightmares and shadows. Devoid of something so essential. Something that was a part of who Jack was. He saw it in the mud fight, in the good days with Baby Tooth, and in every day before the world fell.

Opening his eyes to stare at moon above him, the question still hangs in the air between them and the warmth in his chest pulsing slightly. It was stronger now, fighting the darkness that was spreading through him. If fought back against the power of Pitch Black, waiting for an answer to the question. There was something he needed to do. An oath.

"Yes," Jack mutters, voice still barely louder than a whisper. 

With that simple word, Jack's body ignites in a gentle but cool feeling. It reminds him of freshly fallen snow as it races across the pain of his wound, leaving it feeling numb. It runs across the spider's web that had been growing slowly, freezing it in place and stopping its advance. The glow in his chest burns brightly, filling him with a power he never knew existed. The power of a Guardian. But the lights were gone, and without the children's belief to sustain it, that glow was quickly fading once again. The lack of power didn't concern Jack, after all, he had lost his staff years ago. Anyway, even if children still believed, he wouldn't be able to access the power without his staff. Instead what worried him was the knowledge that he wouldn't have long before the fate of the Guardians also befell him. Knowing he didn't have long, Jack began to stand up.

It was painful and difficult, even with the numbness filling his chest. But Jack managed it. As he stood up, he saw that only a few seconds had past since he last watched the battle, with Pitch still walking towards the unsuspecting Pix. Some of the other Spirits had noticed and were trying to get to Pix to warn her, but Jack knew that they wouldn't reach her in time. Even if he could walk, something his legs were greatly protesting, there was no way to reach her in time. Anyway, he had dropped his staff ends when he was hit and cast to the side, leaving them lying somewhere in the snow around him. There wasn't time to look for them. 

Staring at the snow, Jack's mind goes blank for an instant, unsure what to do. Around him the wind and snow begin to swirl faster, dancing the way they used to all those years ago when he would run around, freezing things and throwing snowballs. Snowballs. Without pausing to think, Jack reaches down to grab a handful of snow. He only briefly registers the few black veins running along the back of his hands, now shimmering with the faint blue of ice, as he gathers up a moderate handful of snow and quickly forms it into a perfect snowball. Standing up, his back the straightest it had been in months, he points his left hand at Pitch to help him aim. After all, you didn't need magic to throw a snowball and Jack Frost had had centuries of practice. In front of him, he can see Pitch raise his scythe, see Pix turn in surprise and horror.

Jack throws the snowball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I know it's been a super long delay for this chapter to come up.  
> I guess you could say that I figured out the entire story before I started writing it and when it didn't seem like people were interested in it, I kinda stopped writing it. After all I already knew the end so it didn't really matter.  
> So I want to say thank you to red2246 for giving me a reason to finish it. I'll try and get the rest up in a timely manner.


	12. The Silhouettes

Jamie Bennett was annoyed at his sister. He had planned to sneak out of the house and join his friends as they stayed up well into the night, laughing, listening to music and generally causing mischief. With the freshly fallen snow, there was plenty of chances to cause a little bit of chaos, whether it be modifying the children's snowmen in the park to tossing snowballs at the cat who lives on a few streets away to creating a dangerous sledding track. Then when they tired of their fun, they would sit and talk about whatever came into mind. Mainly how much of a pain their teachers and parents were, but occasionally the conversation drifted to other things. Jamie had recently purchased a new album that he figured the others might like, and intended to blast it as loud as his phone would allow. Louder if somebody had brought a speaker. They could even make a party out of it if someone wanted to run to the gas station for snacks.

Instead he was escorting his younger sister back home. Apparently she had stayed awake reading under the covers until she had heard him slowly creeping out of his room. Both children had a curfew, and since this was well past that time, as well as being the curious 10 year old she was, she followed him. Jamie was annoyed it had taken him more than a few streets to hear her creeping footsteps and giggles from behind the bushes. He had caught her eventually, when she wasn't fast enough to avoid his eye after looking in her direction. She had complained and pouted and said that she wanted to join him. After all, she was a big girl now.

Mortified at the idea of having to babysit his little sister, Jamie had basically grabbed her hand and begun to drag her home again. He wanted to get her home as quickly as possible, so that he could return to catch up with his friends. Only once Sophie realised this, she had threatened to tell their mother. So instead Jamie decided to take a longer route home, hoping to tire her out before they got back, promising her a walk and a conversation in exchange for not telling anyone about this. The last thing Jamie wanted was to be grounded for a month. Again. Reluctantly and unhappily she agreed, especially after Jamie pointed out that she would get very bored listening to him talk to his friends about things she wasn't a part of.

Sending off a quick message to the rest of the gang to explain the situation, Jamie and Sophie began a longer walk home, skirting around the edge of the town. This was mostly done for Jamie's benefit however, as a number of the neighbours were particularly nosy and he didn't want to be discovered. As they walked, Sophie chatted excitedly about the book she was reading before she left to follow him. Jamie wasn't really paying any attention, giving the appropriate nods and sounds of interest when required. So when she tugged his arm in annoyance he looked at her in slight surprise, having missed everything she said.

"What?" He asked.

"I said I want to slide on the frozen lake," she responds.

"No. I told you that it's late and you need to go to bed."

"I'll tell mom," she pleaded with a voice that sounded like a combination of a whine and utter smugness. She had him and they both knew it.

"Ok. 5 minutes, then we go home," Jamie sighs, realising that her threat was most likely genuine and there was nothing else that he could do.

She responds with an excited squeal and begins running up the slope towards the frozen lake. Jamie follows at a more casual pace, texting his friends to let them know about the delay. Realising that he is taking his time, Sophie darts back towards her brother and grabs his hand, almost knocking the phone into the snow in her excitement, before dragging him up the hill. Jamie let himself be dragged, figuring that if he got there quicker, then he could take his sister home quicker and rejoin his friends. Cresting to the top of the slope they look out at the small frozen pond that they had spent many winters playing together at and stopped, neither wanting to step on the ice for some unknown reason.

It wasn't as if there was anything different. Both of the children saw the full moon shining and reflecting off the frozen lake, snow falling upon it to be caught in a wind that spirals and twirls. Yet as Jamie stares at the lake, he can almost imagine he can see the shadows of the forest dance and move, forming shapes and horrors. Eyes look at him, only to be revealed as little patches of reflected moonlight a moment later. The snow that swirls around seemed to dance in an almost random pattern, as if almost trying to avoid the shifting shadows as it twirls across the surface of the ice. Closer to them and a little to the left, Jamie can almost imagine he can see a secondary dance of snow rocking slowly backwards and forth. The pair stared, watching a gust of wind scatter the snow from a nearby snowdrift into the air.

The scene itself was eerily beautiful in a way neither of them understood. Jamie had always had a bit of an imagination as a child, so he would have chalked the strange sight up to that, except Sophie was also staring out at the lake, still tightly holding onto his hand. He guessed she was seeing the strange sight that he also was. He wanted to dismiss it, wanted to pretend that it was his over-reactive imagination and drag Sophie back home. But he couldn't. All he could do was hold Sophie's hand and watch as the ice creaked and the twirling snowfall began to pick up.

For in that instant, both children were struck with the idea that something big was happening on that lake. Something neither of them could see.


End file.
